Step One: Own Your Dream

Larry Gamboa shared his winning formula by defining seven steps. The first is to own your dream, meaning you’ll have to put your dreams in writing to be better able to make them come true.

I know the power of visualizing your dreams. Before I applied for any college, I outlined specific plans. The end result: I got into the exact university with the exact course that I wanted. Before I applied for any job, I specified what my dream job was, even down to the last detail. Again, I got exactly what I was looking for. Before I got into a relationship, I defined the qualities of my dream man. The rest, as they say, is history. We’re now living happily ever after :)

Hard to believe? It’s true. But more than just building castles in the air, the first task before you’ll know what to be in the future is to find out who you are now. What are your strengths? What are your fears? What can you tolerate? What are your expectations? I found that if I aim for something a little bit greater than my expectations, uncover and quench the fears that can block my achievement, know that I can tolerate some imperfections, and depend on my strengths to reach my goals – then I will achieve anything that I can dream of!

This is actually the first time that I’ll put my dreams into writing. It makes me feel a bit vulnerable but here goes:

- My dream is for Tommy to feel free to say to his patient, “You don’t need to worry. I will operate on you free of charge.” I want him to feel free to join surgical missions and even sponsor them. I want his medicine to be a vocation, not a job that should put food on our table. All these can only be achieved if we have attained substantial financial freedom. I want this to be true ten years from now.

- Five years from now, I want a passive income of at least P100,000 every month. I should have established my own system of earning from my real estate investments and have enough confidence in the formula to be able to teach it to people who are willing to learn. I want to have a track record I can be proud of and which I can use to convince investors to put their trust in me. I want a simple lifestyle for myself and for my family.

- By the end of the year, I want to have purchased a property and sell it well. I want to have my own team that I can trust and depend on. I want to learn, learn, learn and put all my knowledge into action. I want to know why I’m having trouble breathing so it will cease to be a block to my success. I want to attain a good balance when it comes to work, family, and giving service to God.

- By next month, I want to be a part of Larry’s mentoring program. I want to leave Rockford with my boss’s blessing and with a window open for a future business partnership. I want to be forced out of my comfort zone and prove that I can be better than I thought I could be. I want a new direction, one that will lead to a better future.

And last but not the least, I want to achieve all the above with my integrity intact. I may compromise on business deals but I will not compromise my principles. More than being an investor, more than being a wife and mother, I am first and foremost a child of God, and my first concern is to please my Father in heaven. Even now, He is looking down on me with His loving gaze and I know that I am in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing, with the perfect settings that He has prepared, and I am at peace.