Make the Main Thing the Main Thing

What makes you smile the biggest? What if you reviewed your list of dreams and made sure they were really your dreams, and not someone else’s for you? What if you had an idea of when you would like these dreams to come to be? What if you knew why your most important dreams were so important to you, so you could focus on them first?

Here I will share with you how I created my dream list. I will share how I figured out what I wanted, why I wanted it, and how I mapped it all out!

You will also learn steps on how to do this yourself:

1.  Make a list of dreams, and make sure that what’s on the list is YOUR list and no one else’s.

2.  Write down how long it will take to realize each dream.

3.  Pick your top three in year one, and write down “why” you want to have or accomplish that.

These steps will help you to be super sure about your dreams and that you are living yours, and yours alone! You will also be clear and know the time frame of each dream and therefore the order in which they will happen and which ones to focus on first. You will be so clear on what lights you up and what makes you jump out of bed in the morning.

One day I went to the beach in Mexico, sat down, listened to inspiring music, and began to write. I started writing down whatever it is that made me smile and lit me up — things that I wanted to have, places I wanted to go, things I wanted to learn. Anything and everything that I could ever think of for the near future and far future that made me smile with my soul!

I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote — and I didn’t filter. And then I looked down at the list, and I wondered how many of these dreams were actually mine, or whether they were simply things that people told me I should do. I noticed the word “golf” on my list, and I thought, ‘Okay, clearly I don’t want to learn golf.’ Someone had probably told me that I should play golf because I’m a hockey player. We’re so programmed to do what people tell us to do, especially me, with my upbringing. So, scratch that. That wasn’t something I wanted to do.

The point is to make sure that you’re stoked about whatever’s on your list. I was excited with my list by the time I was done on that beach that day. On that list was having my own house, and I thought that this dream would be a long-term dream. I did not think it was going to happen any time soon. But I wrote down that I wanted a house. And I wrote down where I wanted it and that I wanted it to have a good view. I got specific on how I wanted it.

When you start writing things down, and you get clear on what you want, magic starts happening. I’m not kidding you!

Only God and I knew what was on my list. Two weeks later, my friend Bobby said to me, “I have land and I want to sell you half.” I wondered if anyone had told him this. And I realized this was God, delivering exactly what I wanted. But I wasn’t sure yet. And I asked him where it was. It was in the exact place I wanted. I asked, “Can you see the ocean?” He put a picture in front of me that showed the view. I told him I didn’t have enough money.

But he said I could buy it in installments. “I don’t have money,” I said. “That’s okay. You can just pay me in payments.” This is rare, because in Mexico you pay cash for houses, and interest rates are astronomical. We figured out what worked best for us. Two weeks earlier, I had written, “I want to have my own house,” and two weeks later I had my own lot! We drew up the papers within a week or two, and I had the land. I had the land — and it was mine!

The next step was to build. I thought I’d have the land and eventually build on it. I’d written my dream list in January. In May, a good friend of mine came to me and said, “I’m ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“To start building your house. I have a contractor.”

I told him that I didn’t have enough money for that. He asked, “Do you have any money?” I told him yes, and he said, “Okay, we’ll just start with what you have and when it runs out, we’ll stop.” ‘Viva Mexico!’ I thought. We started building.

Brick by brick, I was able to keep going, week by week, paycheck to paycheck. Somehow we were always able to keep going. The boys and I moved into our house before Christmas. Only eleven-and-a-half months earlier, I had decided I wanted it, and now I had it. So it works to know what you want. And then watch the magic.

Step 1: Make a list of dreams — and make sure that what’s on the list is YOUR list and no one else’s dreams.

Make a list of dreams. As always, find a quiet spot and calm your mind. Write down anything that comes to mind.

I wanted to build my own house, I wanted to be able to see the ocean, and I wanted it to be in a certain location. I wanted to be happy, free, and feel safe. What do you really want? Who do you really want to be? How do you want to feel?

Scratch off any “dream list” items that don’t light you up and make you physically smile when you think about them.

Ask yourself again, ‘What do I really want to have, feel, be, experience, do, and accomplish in my life?’ It’s important to ask multiple times to get through the layers of your mind and heart to find the truth. I really wanted to show my kids the world and have a home to call our own! These were the most important things to me. What do you really want to have, feel, be, experience, and do in your life?

Step 2: Write down how long for each one to come to being.

Review your list again. When I left the beach that day with my fresh list, I was buzzing with anticipation and expectation. Make sure you are excited about your list of dreams and goals.

Without being overly analytical and thinking about the how, write a number next to each dream representing the time for it to come to pass. So if you want to see it come to fruition this year, put a one in front of it. If you think it will take two years, put a two; if you think it will take 5 years, put a five; and if you think it will take 20 years, put a 20. You get the idea. Many things on your list are likely to happen sooner than you think. That has often been my experience, as with the land I bought.

Smile, knowing that you are one step closer to those dreams happening. Enjoy the feeling!

Step 3. Pick your top three in year one, and write down “why” you want to have or accomplish that.

Look at your list of dreams for the first year. Take your list and separate the dreams and goals that you want to accomplish this year and put them into a separate list. You want to get clear on what you are aiming for in the next 12 months.

Highlight the top three that you are the most excited about. Put a star next to the top three things on that list. My top three were: travel with the kids, be the top rep in sales, and save for a house. What are your top three things to focus on for the next 12 months?

Add “why” under each one until you have a long list of whys. There should be a long list under each item. “The bigger the why, the easier the how,” said entrepreneur Jim Rohn. So make a long list.

I like to go all the way to my future rocking chair and look back on that thing existing already and how much joy it has brought me, the kids, my family, and what I was able to also do because of it. For example, when I think about my reasons for having a home to call my own, they were to show the kids how to dream — how to provide for yourself and your family. To make lots of memories. To share it with friends. To know that it was ours, and that I was being wise with my money, not throwing it away on rent. What are your lists of why?

The outcome of this step is to have your top three dreams and their whys clear as a bell so that there is nothing that can take you off course from making it happen.

When you follow these steps, you will have your list of dreams, and they will be really your dreams and not someone else’s dreams for you. You will know when you would like these dreams to come true, the most important dreams, and why they are so important to you — just like I created my dream list!

You will also have the steps on how to do this yourself:

1.   Make a list of dreams and make sure that what’s on the list is YOUR list, and no one else’s.

2.   Write down how long for each one to come to fruition.

3.   Pick your top three in year one, and write down “why” you want to have or accomplish that.

These steps will help you to be sure about knowing and living your dreams. You will also be clear and know the time frame of each dream and therefore the order in which they will happen, and which ones to focus on first. You will be so clear on what lights you up, what makes you jump out of bed in the morning, that nothing will stop you from going out and making it happen.