There are two sides to the coin and you should always try looking at the side that makes you feel happier.(Dr. Prem Jagyasi)

Reverse engineering is the shit! 

In this blog post, I will share with you how to reverse engineer what you want to make happen. It’s important to have something to aspire for that excites you. I will share with you the story of taking the kids and my friend on a Mediterranean cruise. I do this by planning our cruise a few months out and putting away the money every month so that in time we could go! I will share with you the three steps to reverse engineer your next dream. They are: 

1.  What are the items or experiences that you want that keep you excited about life, and how much do they each cost? 

2.  When do you want to have or experience them? 

3.  Save the money -  make it happen. 

The outcome is that life's more fun when you are excited about something. You will learn how to find a monthly amount that is doable so that you can make that epic thing or experience happen!! You will learn and explore again what makes you happy and how much those things will cost to bring to fruition. Reverse engineering will allow you to create a very clear plan on how to make that happen.

One of my favorite things to do is to reverse engineer something. What is reverse engineering? It’s having something you want to experience or buy, knowing the cost of it, and when you want to have it, and then dividing the time by the cost to figure out how much to put away a month to get what you want, by the time you want to have it.

I'm going to use as an example the Mediterranean cruise that I really wanted to take with the kids and my girlfriend.

So I researched it, and it was going to be about 7500 dollars for the boys and I to go including flights. We had to get ourselves to Italy, and then the boat went from Italy to Corfu, Mykonos, Santorini, Montenegro, and Croatia, along the Mediterranean. It was an epic trip. It was going to cost about 7500 dollars, for flights and for the cruise, and for activities and things when we got off the boat. So I then asked myself, "Okay, when do I want to go?" So I picked a date. And then I was like, "Okay, so then how many months is it between now and then?" It was six months. and it's $7500.  $7500 divided by 6 = $1250.  So that meant I needed to put $1250 away a month in order to do the trip. So then I asked myself, "After taking care of all my needs first, can I do that?" And if the answer is yes, then do that. If the answer is "No, that might be a little bit much", then the next question is, "What could I do to make up the money to be able to do that? Is there an extra job? Or is there overtime? Or is there something that I can do in order to make that happen?" If you don't feel comfortable with whatever that is, then all you do is you lengthen the time before the trip would happen. 

So you move it a few months. And so then let's say you move it three months. So now it's nine months, it’s only $833 a month? If the answer to the question "Can I do that?" is "Yes", then do it. All of a sudden, nine months later, you're on this epic trip that you maybe dreamed about for years and years of your life. And now it's actually happening. The best part is, you're not taking away from all the other important things in your life. You're not taking away from your savings, you're not taking away from your rent or mortgage, you're not taking away from your food. You're just putting your money where you actually want to spend it so that you don't spend it on all the little mundane, stupid things that you don't actually care about because you're not paying attention, and at the end of the month, the money is gone. With reverse engineering, you can make even the biggest dreams a reality.  

How you can learn from me…

1. What are the items or experiences that you want that keep you excited about life and how much do they each cost?

The importance of this step is to have something to aspire for that excites you.

I do this step by sharing the story of taking the kids and my friend on a Mediterranean cruise.

To start…

A. What do you want

To do this next step find a quiet place to sit where there are no distractions. It would be good to pick a time when you are completely alone to ensure this. Make sure you are in a great state by moving your body and thinking about at least three things you are thankful for. You can also play some inspiring music. Once seated comfortably, breathe deeply into your lungs in the same way I shared with you earlier. Breathe deep into the lungs through your nose, hold for 5 seconds, and exhale through your mouth making the sound “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”. Exhale for as long as you can to release any stale air.  The Ahhhh sounds help release stress. "What do I want?  Write down anything that comes to mind and keep repeating the question until you have at least 5 things on your list. It’s important that you don’t filter your answers, just answer what lights you up. I wanted to take my kids and my girlfriend on a Mediterranean cruise. It had been a dream for years. What do you want? Look at your list and pick the one that makes you the most excited to think about.   This will take 3-5 min.

B. Why do you want it

To do this next step breathe deep into the lungs again. Make sure it’s through your nose, hold for 5 seconds, and exhale through your mouth making the sound “ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”. Now ask your higher self this question, "Why do I want it? Look at the top item that you just picked and ask the question, "Why do I want it?” Write down everything that comes to mind. Make it a big long full list! For me, I wanted to give my kids a taste of the Mediterranean, especially Italy, and Greece. I had never been to Greece, Montenegro or Croatia before so I was really excited to see and experience three new countries. I wanted to spend quality time with my boys and my girlfriend, I wanted to rest, and also get in some adventure. Why do you want what you want?  This will take 3-5 min to complete.

C.  How will it feel when you accomplish that?

Think about that one thing you just chose and ask your higher self, “How will it feel when I accomplish that?” Write down anything that comes to mind. As I thought about this for myself, it made me smile ear to ear. I could imagine the kids smiling at me, saying thank you for a great time. I could see them loving all the buffets and always having tons of choices to eat. I could also see them making friends with other kids on the ship. And I could imagine my friend and I among the ancient ruins soaking up the history and their magnificence. All of which made me gloriously happy and fulfilled. How will it feel when you accomplish that? This will take 3-5 min to complete.

The outcome of this step is to realize that life's more fun when you are excited about something.

2.  By what date, do you want to have or experience them?

The importance of this step is to have a date in mind

I do this by planning our cruise 6 months out.

Here’s what you do…

A. When do you want it?

The next step is to ask your higher self, “When do I want it to happen?” Write down the date that comes to mind. Then figure out how many months or years that is between now and then. Write down the amount of months. For me it was 6 months from the moment I decided to the moment the Cruise departed. When do you want it to happen and how many months is that between now and then? This will take 3-5 min to complete.

B. Divide the cost of the item by the amount of months and that is what you need to save a month to make it happen

The second step is to ask yourself, “how much will it cost to make this happen?” If you need to research, research if you already know, write it down. Then divide the cost of the item by the amount of months between now and then. That will be the amount you need to save to be able to make that thing or experience happen! The cost for our 10-day Cruise was $7500. I wanted to go in 6 months. That meant I had to put $1250 away a month to be able to go. How much do you need to put away to make your dream happen? This will take 3-5 min to complete. 

C. Decide if that is doable or not... get creative, or set a later date until you find a monthly amount that works.

The third step is to decide if the monthly number in step two above is doable or not, based on your finances. If it is, yay, you can make it happen. If it’s too much, then all you have to do is extend the time or get creative on how you could bring in extra funds in order to make it happen in the time you desire. So do a little math for a minute and figure out when you can comfortably without a ton of stress make it happen. Being uncomfortable is ok, that just means you are about to break through and make something amazing happen. Stressing you out to the max is not healthy and defeats the point. Find a date that works with an amount that works and bing bada bing, you are on your way!!!The outcome of this step is get a monthly amount that is doable!

3. Save the money -  make it happen

The importance of this step is that you need to actually put the money away every month in order to get that thing or experience you want.

I do this step by sharing the story of putting away the money every month to be able to go on a dream Mediterranean cruise.

Here’s what you want to do…

A. Divide this by pay period

For this step, take the monthly number above and divide it by pay period.  So it it’s $1000 a month and 8 months, to make your dream happen and you get paid weekly, you will need to put $250 in your Dream List Account every week for 8 months.  Boom, Mic drop. I had to put away 312.50 a week to make my $7500  Cruise happen in 6 months. Know the amount to put away by pay period. Write it down. This will take 3-5 min to complete.

B. Put that amount away every pay period

The second step is to guard the amount that you need to put away and make sure you actually put it away every pay period into your Dream List Account. It doesn’t help to know the amount and then not save it. Seems obvious, but things come up, kids want and need things, you want and need things at the moment, and it’s easy to forget what you are working towards in exchange for the instant reward. Don’t fall into that trap. Stay on course and put that amount away every pay period, and next thing you know you’ll be taking that epic trip, or driving that new car, or, or, or! Skys the limit!

C. Get That Thing

The third step is to actually purchase whatever it is that you are wanting to see happen. Make it happen. Take off the work, work out the child care, find pet sitters, whatever it is that you need to do to make sure your dream happens, make it happen. Don’t get all the money saved and then realize you didn’t get work off or something silly like that. All cylinders go! Put everything you need to put into 5th gear. I had to get off work and find a pet sitter for my dog. I did that the day after I decided I was taking the Cruise. Don’t delay. Get your shit together and make it happen! You’ve got this!

The outcome of this step is to make that epic thing, and experience happen!!

When you follow and implement these steps you will realize that reverse engineering really is the shit! You will know how to reverse engineer what you want to make happen and you will learn to always have something that you aspire for, that excites you. Just like in the story of taking the kids and my friend on a Mediterranean cruise. I planned our cruise a few months out and put away the money every month so that in time we could go! You will have the three steps to reverse engineer your next dream. They are:  

• 1.  What are the items or experiences that you want that keep you excited about life, and how much do they each cost?  

• 2.  When do you want to have or experience them?  

• 3.  Save the money -  make it happen.  

The outcome is that life's more fun when you are excited about something. You will learn how to find a monthly amount that is doable so that you can make that epic thing or experience happen!! You will learn and explore again what makes you happy and how much those things will cost to bring to fruition. Reverse engineering will allow you to create a very clear plan on how to make that happen!

Your Action Steps:  Are to implement the steps above, and come back and let us know what your results are!

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