Money Mythology
For those of you who read “A Failure to Fail,” consider this the sequel. Ask yourself this question: Does it take money to make my dreams come true? If you answered, “Yes,” hold on and don’t bet the farm. Keep your favorite baseball cards, classic car and autographed Michael Jordan basketballs. Today’s biggest myth is that dreams cannot be built without money. On the contrary, there are many ways dreams can be manifested without spending a dime. Remember when I begged you to grab a shovel and dig up your graveyard of dreams? Notice I did not say, ‘Grab your checkbook.’
Let’s break down our shovel and look at its major components: skill, passion, vision and discipline. All of these components, when combined, will make dreams come true.
Skill: To manifest a very specific idea, we need to have tailored skills. If you have money but lack skills, it’s very hard to turn your dreams into reality. Remember, anybody can learn a skill if he/she has the passion and discipline. Most big-name companies will hire a person based on personality and natural character traits rather than skills, because they know skills can be acquired. Under skills falls experience. The more experience you have using your particular skills, the more likely you will be able to manifest your dream yourself. From here, you will only need to invest time. Consider this: We are all investing time, whether we like it or not.
Passion: Each of us loves to do something, often to the point of being a slave to it. Most of us have no choice but to listen to our passion. When it knocks, we have to answer. Our passion owns us — we do not own it. Do you think you are alone in your passion? If you answered, “No,” you are on the right track. People who share the same passion often can help make each other’s dreams come true. An ant by himself will have a hard time toppling a domino, but when more ants join in, the domino falls pretty quickly. Sharing your dreams means you will likely have to share a portion of your company with partners, but that’s all right. Just ask yourself if you would rather have 70 percent of your dream or 100 percent of nothing. Don’t let greed be an obstacle in your path to achieving your dreams.
Vision: This is our creativity and imagination, and the powerful ability to contrive an idea, path, solution or strategy in our minds. The process of manifesting a dream does not take a straight line from point A to point B. There will be many deterrents to your dreams, and you must be able to develop solutions or create new paths. It is this skill that separates managers from leaders. This is where you must be careful. Ask yourself if your vision is people friendly. If your dream is solely tailored to your likes, you are gambling with it. Again, if you do not sell the farm and simply invest your time and skills, you have nothing to lose. Are you going to be the only one enjoying this dream? To make your dream financially profitable, it needs to be people friendly, but if you just want to manifest it for yourself, make sure you are only investing your time and skills.
Discipline: Did you see the movie, “The Last Samurai”? Recall the scene in which Tom Cruise’s character, Captain Nathan Algren, spars with a samurai for the first time using wooden swords. Captain Algren clearly lacks the skills his opponent possesses. However, every time Captain Algren receives a beating, he proceeds to get back up. My good friend, Bill Mehner, told me an old martial arts proverb: “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” Those with true discipline will get up again. I can guarantee you will fall as you pursue your dreams. But remember, experience falls under the skill portion of making our dreams come true, and even when we fall, we are accumulating experience. If you have the discipline to get up again, I promise you your dreams are not too far away.
Michael Erkiletian