Chances are that the figure is lower than expected, and it often decreases over time as you trade more and more “having” for once-in-a-lifetime “doing.” Mobility encourages this trend. Even if the total is intimidating, don’t fret in the least. I have helped students get to more than $10,000 per month in extra income within three months.
Sample Dreamline
Dreamline
(Go to www.fourhourblog.com for larger printable worksheets and online calculators.)
Dreamline Math—Another Good Option
There could be a different way of handling monthly and one-time goals. I’ll use your example of an Aston Martin’s monthly payment, a personal assistant’s monthly payment, and a trip to the Croatian coast. While the first two should certainly be totaled and included in your target monthly income, the trip is something that should be divided by the number of months between now and the dreamline’s total time.
Thus if you had a six-month dreamline:
Aston Martin = 2,003 per month
Personal assistant = 400 per month
Croatian trip = 934 total, and thus 934/6 per month
Right now in the book and in the spreadsheet we have (2003 + 400 + 934) x 1.3 monthly expenses = Target Monthly Income (or TMI).
But I think it should be (2003 + 400 + 934/6 x 1.3 monthly expenses = TMI.
Or, more generally: [Monthly Goals + (One-Time Goals / Total Months)] x 1.3 monthly expenses = TMI.
6. Determine
I’m not a big believer in long-term planning and far-off goals. In fact, I generally set 3-month and 6-month dreamlines. The variables change too much and in-the-future distance becomes an excuse for postponing action. The objective of this exercise isn’t, therefore, to outline every step from start to finish, but to define the end goal, the required vehicle to achieve them (TMI, TDI), and build momentum with critical first steps. From that point, it’s a matter of freeing time and generating the TMI, which the following chapters cover.
First, let’s focus on those critical first steps. Define three steps for each dream that will get you closer to its actualization. Set actions—simple, well-defined actions—for now, tomorrow (complete before 11 A.M.) and the day after (again completed before 11 A.M.).
Once you have three steps for each of the four goals, complete the three actions in the “now” column. Do it now. Each should be simple enough to do in five minutes or less. If not, rachet it down. If it’s the middle of the night and you can’t call someone, do something else now, such as send an e-mail, and set the call for first thing tomorrow.
If the next stage is some form of research, get in touch with someone who knows the answer instead of spending too much time in books or online, which can turn into paralysis by analysis. The best first step, the one I recommend, is finding someone who’s done it and ask for advice on how to do the same. It’s not hard.
Other options include setting a meeting or phone call with a trainer, mentor, or salesperson to build momentum. Can you schedule a private class or a commitment that you’ll feel bad about canceling? Use guilt to your advantage.
Tomorrow becomes never. No matter how small the task, take the first step now!
COMFORT CHALLENGE
The most important actions are never comfortable.
Fortunately, it is possible to condition yourself to discomfort and overcome it. I’ve trained myself to propose solutions instead of ask for them, to elicit desired responses instead of react, and to be assertive without burning bridges. To have an uncommon lifestyle, you need to
From this chapter forward, I’ll take you through progressively more uncomfortable exercises, simple and small. Some of the exercises will appear deceptively easy and even irrelevant (such as the next) until you try them. Look at it as a game and expect some butterflies and sweat—that’s the whole point. For most of these exercises, the duration is two days. Mark the exercise of the day on your calendar so you don’t forget, and don’t attempt more than one Comfort Challenge at a time.
Remember: There is a direct correlation between an increased sphere of comfort and getting what you want.
Here we go.
Learn to Eye Gaze (2 days)
My friend Michael Ellsberg invented a singles event called Eye Gazing. It is similar to speed dating but different in one fundamental respect—no speaking is permitted. It involves gazing into the eyes of each partner for three minutes at a time. If you go to such an event, it becomes clear how uncomfortable most people are doing this. For the next two days, practice gazing into the eyes of others—whether people you pass on the street or conversational partners—until they break contact. Hints:
Focus on one eye and be sure to blink occasionally so you don’t look like a psychopath or get your ass kicked.
In conversation, maintain eye contact when you are speaking. It’s easy to do while listening.
Practice with people bigger or more confident than yourself. If a passerby asks you what the hell you’re staring at, just smile and respond, “Sorry about that. I thought you were an old friend of mine.”
Step II: E is for Elimination
One does not accumulate but eliminate. It is not daily increase but daily decrease. The height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.
5. The End of Time Management.
ILLUSIONS AND ITALIANS
Perfection is not when there is no more to add, but no more to take away.
—ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY, pioneer of international postal flight and author of Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)
It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.
