by Scott Allan
This would require diligence and holding on to that vision of being financially free in ten years. If you wanted to do it in five, do the math and adjust accordingly.
You can do this for any goal. Start at the end and work your way back through all of the action steps required.
If you want to learn how to play the piano in a year, how much practice would you put in every week?
If you want to write a book, how many words would you write every day until finished?
Some goals will be long-term and others short-term, but your goals can cross over and support each other. If want to save $30,000 within ten years, but cash is tight, you could try writing a book or a series of books and create a platform. If you market and advertise and build a following, you now have additional income.
The reverse engineering process is the most logical way to get your goals done and will drive you to persevere even when times are difficult.
Here are the steps for reverse engineering your life:
Visualize your life 10 to 20 years from now. How are you living? Who have you become by accomplishing your dream?
Visually walk back through your life and work out the action steps needed to take you from here to there.
Break your action steps down into manageable chunks. You want this action plan to be realistic and achievable. While saving $30,000 is overwhelming, saving $5 a day is manageable and possible.
Create sustainable habits along the way. Your daily routine and habits will assure that you are hitting your daily mini-goals.
Spend 10 minutes every night visualizing your future as it will be in 20 years. This keeps your motivation at its peak and makes the dream real.
Action Plan
Choose one important goal from your list of goals and start working on it right away. Create a list of action tasks that you have to complete in order to achieve this goal. Then, work on this until you reach your goal. Focus on nothing else except finishing.
Review your progress at the end of each day or week and create a set of daily and weekly tasks to do at the beginning of every new week. You can set monthly goals as well and break it down into your weekly and daily goals.
In twenty years, where do you see yourself? What kind of person have you developed into because of the success you have achieved? Write down your ideas.
Set a timer for thirty minutes. In this time, make a list of twenty goals you would like to achieve in your lifetime. You don’t have to add any specific details or a deadline at this time. Once you finish, go back later and select the ten most important goals. Using the process above, create a list of action steps you would have to take to accomplish this goal.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Window of Opportunity
“What happened yesterday is history. What happens tomorrow is a mystery. What we do today makes a difference - the precious present moment.”
— Nick Saban
It is never too late to pursue and reach your goals. It is never too late to embrace the life you desire to live. It is never too late to go back to school, make new friends, or engage in a new business practice.
It is never too late to find love or discover the endless love within your own heart, and it is never too late to seize opportunity or take a risk on something you have spent your life avoiding
In fact, it is never too late for anything. You can do whatever you desire if you have determination to pursue life’s bountiful treasures.
This world is in a state of constant change. New chances are created every day. In today’s world of rapidly evolving information, ideas and technology, it seems the world is thriving with more opportunity than ever before. New pathways to success are being created all the time.
As the world evolves and changes from day to day, our choices and opportunities change with it. What was available to you yesterday may be a closed deal today as someone else has already moved in and seized the chance that you declined. You may regret some of the opportunities you passed up years ago but dwelling on what you lost only creates more of the same.
Regardless of what you have gained or lost in the past, there are still many chances to be successful in work and all other aspects of life. Knowing this truth is a revelation that inspires hope.
An opportunity that was lost ages ago could be rejuvenated years later in a different form. As the world changes and expands, people and countries come closer together and economies merge, our opportunity for advancement has never been greater. The key is to know what you want and to watch for those chances when they appear.
Seize the Moment
I first became aware of the window of opportunity years ago when I had to accept the painful truth that one of my lifelong dreams was probably never going to happen. It was just too late. My dream would always be just a dream. No matter how hard I worked at it, it was likely it would never come true. I had missed my window of opportunity.
Suddenly I became aware of the concept of time and how, every year, that window of opportunity was slowly closing all around me. Either I was too old to achieve my dreams, or the circumstances that I had ten years ago had changed so drastically that what I wanted became impossible to pursue.
The window of opportunity I thought would always be there had become outdated and closed for good.
There is a limited timeframe for every opportunity that exists. This window is only open for a brief moment and then it’s gone entirely. For children, this window remains wide open with unlimited potential as new talents and skills are acquired and the child’s interest in various subjects is quickly recognized.
A child may take a risk or try something new and unique without realizing it. In time, however, the risks taken become fewer. Fear or reason stand in the way to block you from moving on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Those who take risks might lose. And yet, those who don’t act at all will certainly lose.
Some people create opportunity where there is none. Others destroy it or fail to take action on account of letting fear stand in the way. Like a great tsunami that destroys all in its wake, we are in competition with the window of time as it slowly draws closed before we can seize life’s prospects.
In order to take advantage of the many opportunities surrounding you, you have to have a solid idea of what you are looking for. If not, every idea and every opportunity looks like a good one. You might end up chasing the wrong dream if you don’t know what you really need.
You need to know beforehand what you are searching. When the chance presents itself, you won’t have to question whether it’s the right one. You will know intuitively that this opportunity was created for you. If you wander aimlessly without any clue as to what you want, you will fail to recognize that chance when it comes knocking at your door.
Stay in touch with things you feel passionate about. Keep your interests alive and stay focused on areas that make a difference to the quality of your life. Do not get caught up in small activities or petty trifles that distract your concentration. When you are focused in on what matters, you are in a strong position to create your opportunity, or you will be ready for it when the time comes.
The key is to know when to act and take action when an opportunity feels right. Don’t be afraid to take an acceptable risk but weigh the situation carefully if you have to. If you hesitate because of fear, the opportunity will be lost and become another’s profit.
In situations like this, people often say, “Oh, don’t worry, another opportunity will come by.”
Maybe it will and maybe it won’t. If you’re stranded in the middle of the ocean, you can’t always be fussy about every passing ship.
Window of Unlimited Abundance
Imagine there’s an open window in your mind. This window is large enough that anything you desire could fit through it—a job offer, a chance to buy a new home, or a lucrative investment deal with the possibility of making you a fortune in just a few years.
Through this window is where all of life’s prospects, lucrat
ive offers, and unlimited opportunities are ready to come pouring through each day. Imagine that everything you have ever desired is flowing through this window of opportunity in endless abundance.
Now, you can’t seize everything, but you can seize the opportunity you want the most. As I mentioned already, the key is in knowing what you’re looking for.
Which opportunity best serves your present needs and fulfills the purpose and vision of your life? Without knowing what you want, the chance of a lifetime could be staring you in the face and you might walk right past it. If you could have anything, what would it be? If any choice were available to you, what would it be? What is the chance you are seeking that hasn’t appeared yet?
When it feels right, there is no hesitation. Your intuition will serve you well in the moment when your greatest opportunity approaches.
Life is bountiful when you believe the abundance of opportunity you seek is all around you. If you believe your choices in this world are limited and confined, then this is the reality you will experience. You will never find what you are looking for if you think everything happens by mere luck or coincidence.
You are in a position right now to create the opportunity you desire. There has to be a set of actions beforehand: a decision, a proposal, or an action that produces significant results. When you just wait for things to happen, you leave yourself at the mercy of outside forces and no longer control the events directing your life.
When the opportunity you want is not available, you don’t have to sit around and wait for it to happen. Keep moving and keep working. Keep dreaming and keep trying. Be selective in your choices and decisive with your actions. You can have anything you want but be sure it’s the one thing you desire more than anything.
You have to let go of regrets. Missed opportunities will never return, at least not in the same form. Regretting lost opportunity quickly dissolves the abundance of new prospects. Do not regress. Stick with what you have today. When opportunity fails to knock, build your own doors and invite success in.
The future is in this moment right now, and it is built through actions and choices that generate the opportunity you seek. You have to know what you’re going after so you can recognize the opportunity when it appears.
Time is Opportunity
Thomas Edison, who achieved so much in his lifetime, and with over 1,000 recognized patents, utilized the same amount of time that you have right now.
Stephen King, who has been an international best-selling author for more than forty years, has written over sixty novels, many of them worldwide bestsellers.
It is estimated that Pablo Picasso produced over 50,000 artworks during his time, including paintings, ceramics and sculptures.
How can the world’s super-achievers accomplish more in a week than many people can in a year? What separates a world-class inventor, writer, or artist from everyone else? Are they smarter, wiser, or funnier? Were they born into good fortune? Do they have more time?
The days are still twenty-four hours long, yet most of us can barely scratch the surface of what we hope to accomplish. How did Thomas Edison do it? Well, Thomas Edison knew how to manage time. He was also driven by his passions.
This fueled his desire to work long hours. He created his own world of opportunity by following his passions and applying a willingness to work more than the average person. While most would give up, he pushed on. And for people with this level of persistence, their chances of succeeding are exponential. Edison didn’t wait for his chance. He seized it over and over again.
"Most people miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
— Thomas A. Edison
The key is to know what to do and when to do it. You know you have two free hours ahead of you this evening. How you decide to spend them is up to you. If you have a passion for doing something, you have to make the time for it. If you wait until you are completely free or the time is just right, you might never get around to it.
A friend of mine is a novelist. He writes ten pages a day, yet he has four kids, a family, and another job, but still he writes ten pages a day. That is because writing those pages is one of the most important things in his day. He simply knows that he must do this every day.
That is the sacrifice and the discipline. While others are at home watching TV or out drinking every weekend, he is at home every night writing his next novel. He creates his own opportunity in life by taking action and knowing what he wants.
Knowing what you want to do, when to do it, and by putting yourself into action mode in order to achieve it opens that window of opportunity a little wider, regardless of age, social status or education. If the opportunity you desire doesn’t come knocking, go out and look for it.
You have to pursue it with a relentless obsession in order to seize it and make it yours. In other words, the individual who waits around for success is wasting time. The people who take action and refuse to give up achieve their dreams.
While I lost several opportunities over the years, this didn’t mean everything was over. I created new choices. I made new goals and pursued opportunities. You can do the same, regardless of what’s passed you by. There will never be a shortage of opportunity, only a lack of imagination.
Be an Opportunity-Minded Individual
We waste too much energy and scarce resources waiting for empty opportunities that never materialize, meanwhile forgetting that the best chance we have of succeeding is to be the opportunity you want to have.
You are the best chance at success you will ever discover. Think about it. Nobody else is like you, and that means you are unique. Failing to take advantage of your own opportunity is like sitting on top of a mountain of gold without realizing it, crying because you are broke and have no money.
Look inside yourself for the opportunity you want. What can you do that others can’t? What do you excel in that others don’t? What is different about you that makes you unique? In the end, there is only one person who will make the life you want, and that is you. Nobody knows you like you know yourself and only you will know when it’s time to take advantage of that special opportunity.
Do you remember the old adage, “If it is too good to be true, it probably is”? Well, these thoughts have hung around for decades, and as we learn them, we believe in the self-defeating message they carry.
Have you ever approached someone with an offer that was considered reasonable only to have them reject you? How many times have people tried to convince you to take a risk on something that just seemed too easy?
We have been conditioned to be wary of opportunities that sound too good to be true. Opportunity is all around you. The problem is we don’t always see it because we are too busy focusing on the sure thing that won’t let us down. We continue to repeat our past failures by behaving and thinking the same way every day. This is how opportunity is lost.
A person with an open mind who is willing to take a chance on something has a significantly greater chance of succeeding than the person who does nothing. If you stand by and watch while others swoop in to seize those golden opportunities, their reward will be your loss. I am not suggesting you grab hold of every opportunity, but you do have a limited amount of time to think things through. Don’t get caught up in imagining what the results may or may not be.
Most people fail to jump at something because they want a guarantee that things will work out, that they won’t lose money or be humiliated in some way if the risk goes sour. Nobody can guarantee any opportunity is golden. The one thing that is guaranteed is that you will gain nothing if you do nothing.
“It’s not the lack of resources, it’s your lack of resourcefulness that stops you.”
— Tony Robbins
When Ray Kroc purchased the McDonald’s business from the McDonald brothers, they were invited to join him in a joint venture. They were given the opportunity to make a fortune and they didn’t take it. They settled for 2.7 million, took the money, and Ray took
the McDonald name and amassed a fortune that the brothers were never involved with.
Ray Kroc seized an opportunity to expand and build an empire. Those he approached later on, to help expand on the opportunity, were later rewarded with wealth, success, and lifelong careers.
Be wary of the negative consequences of the quick rejection phase that we learn at a young age. Be open-minded and cultivate the attitude that opportunity is all around you, and that you are right now searching for and keeping an open eye on the one golden opportunity that can change everything. People who are closed to opportunity are also closed to change and personal growth, two key ingredients necessary for attracting wealthy opportunity and choices.
Five Ways to Attract
Greater Opportunity
"To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities."
— Bruce Lee
Sometimes opportunity happens by chance, but in many cases, the expectations we build draw it toward us. As a proactive person, you need to go after it, be ready for it, and know what to do when the time is right.
If you want to connect with the vast world of opportunity available, then you must become the kind of person who attracts the opportunity you desire. There are several ways to do this:
Know precisely what you want
When you know what you want, and you are able to visualize it, the opportunity you seek will present itself. This could be in the form of a new job offer, a chance encounter, or being in the right place at the right time with the right frame of mind that recognizes the chance when it appears.
It is much easier to be successful when you know what kind of success you want to attract. The opportunity you seek might involve a person you meet at just the right moment or something you needed desperately but didn’t have before that has suddenly found its way into your life.