WHAT'S THE PLAN FOR A MILLION DOLLARS?

Let's say that someone is so benevolent that they would write you a check of one Million Dollars. Would you be happy? Of course you would.

Here is the catch though...(there always will be a catch): All that this philanthropist wants to see is a breakdown of how well you will use that bounty to generate more income over a period of time. He does not want you to go and prepare that plan, he wants you to show it to him...right now!

The plan must be well broken down to the detail: The projects, the resources, the time-frames, the people, the projected revenues...the works.

Question: Would you qualify?

Do you have a plan to spend use this?

Think about that. I mean, let's really think about that. Do we seriously think about this stuff? I am not just talking about a Million Benjis here...your level might be different than mine. Let's say your dream of a financial windfall is USD 50,000. Would you still qualify?

Here is the thing...I am ready to bet that cash has been eluding people because they have not been minding about cash. 

For the most part, people think about the money they do have, or what they can expect in terms of income. People seldom plan for dream cash down to the details...including me up to recently. Yet that is changing for me. If my goal is to be worth 10 Million Dollars, I need a plan on how to handle that cash.

1. How much is allocated for my projects (Assuming that the projects are already conceptualized)
2. How much is allocated for other people's projects (Assuming that I have a heart to help a certain group of people)
3. How much is allocated for investments (Assuming that I have in-depth knowledge of what kind of investments suit me. Refer to the article on Shortcuts here)
4. How much is allocated for the next generation (Assuming that I have a vision that spans my life-time to the next and the next)
5. How much is allocated to lifestyle (Assuming that I am prudent enough to schedule my joys)
6. How much is allocated to research (Assuming that I am progressive enough to invest in science and technology for the greater good of the world)
7. How much is allocated for other people's dreams (I will never forget the day Oprah gave cars and houses to several people both in her audience as well as those suggested through mails)
8. How much is allocated to spread the Gospel (Good news. It needs cash to spread it)
9. How much is allocated to nurturing the talents/ gifts of my children. (This goes without saying).
10. How much is allocated to building not just a home..but a house. 

The list is only as long as guess what? It is as long as your dreams. Which begs this question: What are your dreams? Are they documented? 

You see, those are the million-dollar questions that you need to ask yourself. Honestly, very many people do not have a dream financial figure. Chances are that they are afraid to dream...or do not have time to dream...or they have not made their dreams clear to the dregs of the details.

Your financial dream might not be millions of dollars. In fact, your financial dream is directly proportional to the purpose you want to accomplish in life. So do you know that purpose? You see, many people have this all backwards. People think about money (mostly not to an accurate figure), yet do not know what in the world they would do even with a fraction of that money! Isn't it any wonder that we do not see the money?

Our challenge today is to craft to the very dregs of detail, what we would do with our dream bounty of cash. If we can do this and look it over carefully, chances are that well below five years, that dream will become a reality.

True, isn't it?

ONE THING…JUST ONE THING IN 2013

“When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.  I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.  When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town.  I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.  Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family.  My family and I could have made an impact on our town.  Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.”  ~Author Unknown

Towards the end of 2012, I was privileged to be part of a radio panel that for three hours were discussing the subject of Goal Setting on one of the leading Christian radio stations in Uganda.

I also happen to be the Host of the Hour of Prayer on that same radio station every weekday morning from 5:00 am to 6:00 am East African Time.

I remember someone calling on that goal setting show and asking this: “How many goals can I have in one year?”

At face value, that question seems theoretical and even academic. Yet the more I think about it, I come to realize that that question was extremely important not only to be asked but also to be answered and to be answered well!

First, the essence of goal setting is not just to set goals for the sake of setting goals. The spirit is to accomplish the goals.

That being said, it is important to answer that question: “How many goals can I have in one year”? Two goals? Three goals? May be four? 

What do you think? I think it is really up to you as an individual to determine how many goals you want…but the catch is on accomplishing and not just setting the goals.

What did I answer this caller on the radio? I told him that goal setting is a completely personal issue and as such, it is them to determine the number of goals that they can set. I however told him that being human, we experience life in at least eight dimensions, and for the sake of balance, it is important that he sets a goal in at least each of these eight spheres of our lives.

I told him to have a goal regarding his Mental sphere

I told him to have a goal regarding his Finances

I told him to have a goal regarding his Business (or career)

I told him to have a goal regarding his Relationships

I told him to have a goal regarding his Lifestyle

I told him to have a goal regarding his Spiritual Life

I told him to have a goal regarding his Physical Life

And I told him to have a goal regarding his Family.

I have however come to learn that there is great power in focusing on one thing. In 2012 for example, my theme for the whole year was R.E.C.O.N.N.E.C.T.

This means that as much as there were many other pursuits throughout the year, the one thing that was non-negotiable for me was to reconnect.

We all operate subconsciously with the ‘one thing’ formula in our lives. In fact, in 2013, I guarantee you that many people’s ‘one thing’ is to get married. I have already talked about it here, that if the preparations for weddings would be copied and pasted in other pursuits of our lives, success in our lives would be phenomenal!

For other people, their ‘One thing’ is to have a child. Others is to build a house, still others would want to earn that degree, or the Masters, or the Phd. We all have this one MAJOR thing that we really desire (finances being a constant)

Preparing yourself and desiring several things in the eight spheres of your life is absolutely important. I have already said that software becomes hardware. It is important that all our desires are documented, strategic plans for their achievement drawn and well presented on paper (or a book).

However, it will be extremely important for us to select one major heart desire for 2013 and put all our attention and focus on it. In other words, this ONE THING MUST BY ALL MEANS COME TO PASS in 2013, come rain or sunshine.

Our accomplishments of 2013 will depend on how we break down the big picture into small and manageable pieces and knock them off, one step at a time.

You will realize one thing: that success is linked up. You will realize that if your focus was for example on your physical life, you will notice that for a reason or another, that focus will automatically affect your relationships…if you chose to go to a gym for example.

If your ONE MAJOR focus was on Finances for example, you will find out that for some reason, this pursuit will positively affect your life style. If your focus was on your physical life, you will notice that it might affect your mental life. If your focus was on your Business, you will notice that it will directly affect your finances.

In 2013, I challenge you to select on big and major desire/goal and make it a must to be achieved by a particular timeframe. 

Sit down and structure a plan of accomplishing this. Enumerate all the resources you might need, all the people you might need. Look at all the possibilities available at your disposal in accomplishing this major goal. 

Go one step ahead and craft a daily or weekly ‘attendance register’ for all the action points that you are to take to accomplish this major goal.

This is the surest way of exorcising that ghost of New Year resolutions that is always that—a ghost, present on January 1^st and absent the rest of the year.

And as you focus on ‘one thing’ you will realize that you finished reading a book one chapter at a time, you put the money together for the project one dollar at a time, you got the crowd following you one person at a time, you built the house one brick at a time. 

Let us not be paralyzed by many things…they encourage procrastination. Let us be energized by one thing, it calls for immediate action!

Have a ghost-free 2013 won’t you?

THE DEATH OF A DREAM

The subject of dreams and visions remains extremely fascinating. It is through dreams and visions that everything we see finds substance. As such, there is always a life cycle of a dream. Dreams always speak. Dreams are always babies needing to be nurtured.

Dreams have a conception. Every dream longs to be fulfilled. The very reason as to why that dream appears to you and I is that we have been found worthy to gestate it! I write this because very many people, sometimes including myself get so discouraged at the conception of a dream.

They see nothing but impossibilities whenever a dream has found them worthy. In fact to some people the recipe of misery is an overwhelming dream. However, a great visionary realizes one very crucial aspect about dreams and visions. You are not the only activator in the picture. 

There is always the unseen that is behind the concept of the dream. Needless to say, there comes a time where (seemingly) someone’s dream dies. Paradoxically, this ought to be really good news. Why? Because you recognized the dream, and in your hand it (seemingly) died.

If you never recognized the dream, that is if you never conceived it, then you would never recognize its ‘death’. Dreams die because the carrier or ‘gestator’ if you will has come to their wits end. In fact, the dream carrier is so bogged down with their own survival that they have no strength to activate their dreams. All they do is wish, long, desire…and sometimes…pray.

Any dream that has died on you is worth pursuing. It’s worth re-activating. It’s worth taking a second look. Its worth looking at a different dimension for its activation. I dare say that sometimes, all it needs is for the carrier to ‘surrender’. Recognize that it’s not just yourself in the picture as far as that dream is concerned.

Give way to the other plays although invisible in the dream to help you. You might need a little wisdom. You might need a little counsel. You might need your eyes to be opened a little. You might need to see the excitement of someone who hears about your dream, although now considered dead. You might need a little prayer.

Sometimes the death of adream is really the beginning of its unparalleled resurrection and realization.

I have shared this story before, yet I will still share it again here. It is given by Marcial Weider, the CEO of dream university. Let me say this: Do not you ever give up on that dream. Hold fast to it. Do not worry about the copy cats…as long as it means something to your heart…it shall come to pass. The ultimate death of a dream is when you no longer carry it…that’s when it dies never to be resurrected. Here goes Marcia’s signature story:

So the people that inspire me the most are the everyday people. My favorite story - and I guess it’s become the signature story because I tell it so much -but it’s a brief story and I really love this. I was giving a talk in Portland, Oregon and a young man came up to me and he said, “Thank you for your talk today, it really inspired me, I’m a long way from home.” And I looked at him – he was very tall, very unusual, very dark skin, almost blue. And I knew he was from far, far away. He had said “I’m a long way from home.” And I said, “Oh, I travel a lot too.” And he said, “Well, this might be a little different you see this is the first Sunday of my life that I’ve been away from my tribe.” Of course I stopped what I was doing, “Your tribe? Who are you? Where are you from?” And he said, “I’m from Kenya, Africa. I’m part of the Maasai Warrior Tribe.” And I said, “Well, what are you doing in Portland? (laugh)

He said, “When I was very young, very, very young, I became ill and my mother took me to a near-by medical clinic. And from that day forward my dream was to become a doctor, but it was impossible. There was no training, available, and you didn’t leave the tribe,” he said. It just wasn’t done.” He said,

“As I grew up. I shared the dream with everyone and everyone including my own family told me to forget it. They told me it was a fantasy. They’d role their eyes at and told me to go back to work.”

He said, “but I never forgot it, and recently around my 18th birthday, a visitor came from your country an it turned out that he was a writer for the Washington Post. He wrote my story. A few weeks later, a couple in Portland, OR happened to read it. I was invited to apply for undergraduate work. And in a

matter of months I was accepted at the University of Portland.” And I looked at him and said, “It must have been the happiest day of your life.” He said, “No, it was the worst day. It was horrific.” My family didn’t have the resources to send me off to America to follow a dream of becoming a doctor. It

just really was impossible.” And he literally said Jeff, he said, “I did the only thing I knew to do. I prayed for a miracle, and that’s what I got. Four families came forward. Each one made the commitment one year apiece to feed me, to house me, to buy my books, to basically love me and be my family while I was

so far from home.” Well, he’s telling the story, and I am a puddle, as you are right now. We just

turned into puddles, because it’s just unbelievable. And what he said next is what really makes him one of the great visionaries that I ever met. He said, “But it wasn’t until today when I heard you speak so passionately about dreams, that I really got clear about what I need to do. I need to become a doctor, of course, that’s my dream. But then I need to go home. I need to go back to my tribe and be an example that no dream is impossible, and the extraordinary things that can happen when we gather together as a tribe or as a team.”

I just hear that story and I think: No dream is impossible. And I don’t care how big your obstacles are, or how little you have, or what the issues are - if you really are committed to your dream. Then I would say, “Put a stake in the ground. Set an intention. Put yourself in right relationship to it with your integrity, because in my work: intention and integrity together form the core building block for making your dreams come true. So it’s not enough to say you want it, you have to do something about it. And when I watch people do that, miracles do occur.

Yet remember: You are worthy of the dream that you carry, however impossible it seems to you right now.

Have a great week, wont you?

iDIMENSION

Forget about the latest technology in TV and games. Forget about 3-D, and HD, there is a new kid in town...but wait. This kid has always been around. A wise man said, there is nothing new under the sun. Very true.With latest advances in technology, sometimes our undoing is ignoring the fundamental and rushing after the spectacular and the 'on vogue'.

There is something extremely critical in Life Signatures. You see, Life in itself is so vast that not even the latest technology can give you an all-rounded view of the nitty gritty details. Someone developed a concept called 'the butterfly effect' which says that the flapping of a butterfly's wings some place in Japan affects the weather patterns in America. I agree. Yet even that powerful phenomenon is nothing compared to the iDimension. Let's face it, Life Signatures for the MOST part depends on a human being 'showing up', and the iDimension 'closing up' to bring the puzzle full-circle.

Before we can talk about the iDimension, let us talk about 'Control'...For some reason, safety in life is derived from the ability to control most things around us. We tend to want to have a grip on everything. Life Coaches will tell you to get a grip on every area of your life...Mental, Physical, Social, Financial, Business and Lifestyle. I have come to learn however that you can never have control over stuff as much as its conception, existence it and success is not fully dependant upon you. Think about it this way...if I had full control of my finances (especially the income)...will I need to set financial goals? Why Am I setting them goals in the first place? Simple. I have no FULL DIMENSIONAL VIEW of the HOW...and sometimes the WHEN. All I know at the moment is the WHAT and the WHY!

Friend, the biggest reason as to why people do not design their Life Signatures is that small aspect of Control. Most people having know that they have no control over something, would rather leave it alone.  That my friend, is sometimes one of our greatest undoing-failing to do our part. Just because we do not understand the full view of how things will work out does not mean we should shun it. You have heard that old advice in Investments: "Do not invest in what you do not understand." Well that goes a long way. However in terms of Life Signatures, I would say this: "Do your part and TRUST the rest to the iDimension".

I am learning that the ultimate way to Life Signatures is to Surrender. Let the nitty gritty sort itself out. In fact, the key word here is TRUST. Ever seen a control freak? They are a total mess! They are less creative, and if anything, they stiffle creativity and growth for that matter. The ever wanting to be totally involved in everything, to be well acquainted with all the processes is to say the least the worst thing in pursuit of Life Signatures.

So what is the iDimension? Glad you asked...more glad that you have read this far! This is the most powerful aspect of our Life on Earth that is close to the divine. Why? Simple..the divine set it up in the first place! It might not be the divine itself...but it borders the infinite. The iDimension is not a substitute of the Divine, but a powerful collaborator between the finite and the Infinite.

The iDimension is the deeper and bigger portion of the iceberg that is not seen with the naked eye. The iDimension refers to the Invisible, Infinite possibilities, always available to those who will do their part and trust the iDimension (process) to finish its work. It never goes wrong. It always will work with what has been offered. The iDimension is that which you and I have no grip on. It is the invisible mechanics that materializes our dreams and desires.When a soul sets out to do something, it this the iDimension-that part that sees and knows and controls the unseen in terms of people, events, locations, connections of dots et all that ultimately materializes the desire.

When a seed is sown, it is the iDimension that takes over behind the scenes to bring that seed to germination. The tendency to want to know WHAT the iDimension is doing and HOW it is doing it is what causes many dreams to be aborted. It causes many seeds to be dug out of the ground. Here is one of the most uncomfortable thing about the iDimension: TIME. It takes time to gestate. It takes time to mature. It takes time to germinate and to grow.

Know this however, that if the sower does not sow, there is nothing the iDimension can work with. It is a collaborator, remember.  Ever heard this statement, "I have no idea what happened." Well, it is because by nature we have no access to the full mechanics of processes. My challenge today: Do your part, let the process have something to work with. Trust the process to bring the desires. Patience and trust are key. Have an iDimensional day, wont you?