I wish I could come here and report that yeah, I'm doing it 100%...

I wanted to share this here, a friend sent me this link.

[[edit: this was the old link that no longer works]]
For God's sake, follow your dreams - Blog
[[Follow this link instead]]
http://www.ajot.me/for-gods-sake-follow-your-dreams/

Not a new topic or anything we haven't heard before... but I still think it is a good read.

Why are we really not doing it?



P.S. Big THANK YOU to chickenHawk for finding the new link and posting it here.

A lot of people follow their dreams straight into bankruptcy ... the world doesn't care about your dreams, they only care if your dream will solve their problem and solve it well. Or, if you are employable to get paid to "follow your dreams". The world operates on a need/value based economy -- not dream based.

While the market will determine how you ultimately proceed, nothing gets started without a dream. You have to have some passion behind what you are doing in order to have the fortitude to push through barriers, and I believe having a dream (another word for a vision, strategy, or goal) is the motivation that gives you the strength to push forward.

I would argue those who follow their dreams into bankrupcy did not apply some of the basic common sense priniciples that we discuss here, and that are discussed in some of the popular books and by some of our mentors. However, I feel that the dream, the passion, the fire is the quintensential element in any successful venture.

Also, while I really liked the blog post, I liked the comments even more. It's was the epitome of slow lane, no risk, defeatist thinking. These people had dreams too...dreams of fear that paralized them and kept them from true happiness. I hope they enjoy their deferred life, where they can enjoy all the money they didn't save and all the time they don't have left to live.

Frankly, I was most shocked a the reaction of people who had a mortgage, kids, car payments, and a "responsible" job. I personally am persuing entrepreneurship because my parents followed the slowlane lifestyle, and I refused to do the same for my kids and my wife. In fact, it is my sense of responsiblity to them that in my mind forces me to persue my goals and dreams of financial freedom and business ownership.

Sure, I saw my mom and dad every single day, and trust me, I feel very fortunate for that...but that "spending time with the kids" was in reality hijacked by my parent's physically demanding day jobs - such that the "time" was, in all reality, quite poor in terms of quality. I would have traded all the nights my dad fell asleep exhaused on the couch watching TV for just one weekend day per week where he had the time, energy, and money to do things with us that he wanted to do, taught us things he wanted to teach us, and enjoyed our company without being exhaused or worried about affording a certain standard of living. I totally respect my parents' dedication and to us, but I also got to see up close what a life lived for one's children is like, and I feel personally guilty that it is the path my parents chose.

throttleforward said:

You have to have some passion behind what you are doing in order to have the fortitude to push through barriers, and I believe having a dream (another word for a vision, strategy, or goal) is the motivation that gives you the strength to push forward.

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Absolutely, I like to say that "passion" is the foundation for Fastlane success, not "love" or "dreams" unless that dream is translated into passion that funnels into a need. Passion will get you doing the things that others won't. (In other words, are you working your plan or are you instead on the couch playing World of Warcraft?)

throttleforward said:

I liked the comments even more. It's was the epitome of slow lane, no risk, defeatist thinking. These people had dreams too...dreams of fear that paralized them and kept them from true happiness. I hope they enjoy their deferred life, where they can enjoy all the money they didn't save and all the time they don't have left to live.

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The comments are great. This is what happens when you settle for mediocrity, or the insane plan of everyone.

throttleforward said:

Frankly, I was most shocked a the reaction of people who had a mortgage, kids, car payments, and a "responsible" job. I personally am persuing entrepreneurship because my parents followed the slowlane lifestyle, and I refused to do the same for my kids and my wife. In fact, it is my sense of responsiblity to them that in my mind forces me to persue my goals and dreams of financial freedom and business ownership.

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This is your passion that will compel you to make your dreams reality. Passion is more generalized, while love is more specific.

throttleforward said:

I feel very fortunate for that...but that "spending time with the kids" was in reality hijacked by my parent's physically demanding day jobs - such that the "time" was, in all reality, quite poor in terms of quality.

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Most people won't readily admit this ... again, this is another passion (or mind seed) that will motivate you to action.

Great post!! Speed+

I loved that blog post and you're right, the comments are very interesting.

I'm doing a start-up right now, quit my full-time corporate job, etc... I don't have a family and have cash reserves that I have saved up from years working in a job. Plus, my start-up cash flows, which helps.

I think the dichotomy in thinking between the blog poster and the commenters really comes down to what dream outweighs the other. For those who say they can't live their "dreams" and start-up their own business are choosing one dream over another. Really, they are choosing the dream where they draw a paycheck and live their current lifestyle. That's okay. If their dream to own their own business was really a priority, then they would downsize their lifestyle and take action towards that dream (at least in baby steps).

For those who dream of entrepreneurship, but never take any action & use the excuse that they are "trapped" (most people) - I think the best thing you can do is to teach your kids to be entreprenuers and support them in that direction. That way your kid entrepreneurs can deal with all of the challenges of a start-up, before they have those so called "responsibilities" or mental roadblocks.

IMO - It's all a head game.

I think the assumption that everybody's dream is to be rich is incorrect.

His post stated dreams as what we used to say when we were kids.

Money was not the factor.

Granted, most dreams need lots of money to be met.

But many others don't.

Most people are not even following those.

Example: I was talking to a friend about it and I asked him the $100M question: "what would you do if you won the lottery tomorrow, and end up with $100M clean and ready for you to use?" --great way to understand how they think about life without financial limitations.

One of his dreams was to be able to pilot an airplane. He did not say "own a super-expensive jet", he said pilot an airplane. I asked him if piloting a small cesna would do and he said yes. Well, I believe you can take the pilot certification classes/training and you get to fly one, and you don't need millions for that.

If that is the case, why is he not even doing this? This is a dream that can be easily accomplished.

Why is he not following this one? Why are many of us not even going after "smaller" dreams like this?

I don't think it had anything to do with big amounts of money, so why this happens so often?

People are either going to go for it, or they will just talk about it.

I can relate to that story andviv - I too had a childhood dream to be a pilot, but gave up half way in my training due to money. My wife pushed me and told me that some things, like accomplishing childhood dreams, were worth nearly whatever the cost, and that I should go for it. It may have taken me 7 years from start to finish, but I am now a licensed pilot for life. It was a great lesson for me in accomplishing goals and not letting the slowlane way of thinking keep you down (plus, it made me love and respect my wife more )

Nothing made me feel happier than to give my dad the airplane ride (with me as the pilot) I had wanted to since I was a kid. Flying down to his small airport from DC, flying him around the town I grew up in, showing him his house from the air, landing, and heading back to DC all in about 3 hours as a fathers day gift was incredible. He was still talking about it months later. Seeing how happy he was made it totally worth all the training time and money.

throttleforward said:

I can relate to that story andviv - I too had a childhood dream to be a pilot, but gave up half way in my training due to money. My wife pushed me and told me that some things, like accomplishing childhood dreams, were worth nearly whatever the cost, and that I should go for it. It may have taken me 7 years from start to finish, but I am now a licensed pilot for life.
...
He was still talking about it months later. Seeing how happy he was made it totally worth all the training time and money.

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Great story, very inspirational.

I assume then that you were able to accomplish this on the side, without quitting your job, while still paying your motgage, and while keep being a family man.

May I ask what was the ballpark value of accomplishing that dream? Did u need millions to make it happen?

Did reaching that dream made you happy? Was it as good as you expected it to be? or even better?

Congrats on making that happen, and thanks a lot for sharing that story.

One of my dreams was to own a corvette. I bought the 100th 1991 corvette and really enjoyed the car. After a while it was a bore though. Then Texas Motor Speedway started doing laps for charity. So I did that a couple of times. Very cool to cruise high speed with other corvettes. We were allowed to cruise around 120mph. I did that a couple of times then it was a bore. The real blast was the last time, taking my dad around the track, top off, 120 mph, 35 degree banking and 2 feet from the wall. Scared the hell out of him and he still loved it.:fastlane:

Andres, this was one of those dreams that didn't cost a million dollars. I have been doing a lot of those the last few years. I came to the conclusion, what am I scared of losing, what am I waiting for? Life is now, gotta reach for those dreams. Only challenge for me is to find new/different dreams.:cheers:

I've always been one to follow his dreams and a firm believer in creating your own world/life/reality.

I think my family used to really worry about me. But I have proved time and again that being a big kid that lives in a dream land works for me.


I've seen alot of my dreams come true. Happiness, love
and mostly I don't own an alarm clock! :banana:

andviv - The cost is certainly less than a million bucks! A simple introductory flight in a Cessna will run less than $100. Typically, you would rent a plane and instructor combined at about $80-150/hour-the engine-is-running. The training consists of a minimum of 40 hours of flight time, with 20 of those being with an instructor, and 20 actually flying by yourself (under the watchful eye of an instructor and a well-constructed flight plan if you are going any significant distance). There is an FAA written test, and a flight test with an FAA examiner. You can fly as often or as infrequently as you would like - the hours count all the same (I had a significant portion of my hours years earlier, which still counted). The recommended interval between flights is around one flight per week in order to stay sharp, although I did just fine in my training with years between some flights. Overall, the total cost depending on where you live, your dedication, and what type of plane you rent to train in is going to be between $5000 and $10,000

Overall, it's a great experience. People like flying for different reasons - I like the precision and technical challenge, plus the significant cut down in travel time and freedom. And, the world is a little more open since there are 1000's of small airports that are usually quite close to your actual destination, something that you can't reach by airline. Not to mention the fact that I actually know "what all those dials and buttons" do in a cockpit, which not only makes me feel intelligent, but scores major points with the scared ladies on the commercial flights

Of course, nothing beats flying over the beach at night, seeing a sunset from 10,000ft, cutting out hours of travel for friends taking trips, or joining the mile high club (just kidding...haven't joined...yet

If any of you are in the DC area and want to go for a flight over the Chesapeake Bay, let me know!

NHS said:

and mostly I don't own an alarm clock! :banana:

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In Soviet Russia, alarm clock owns you!!!

Sorry, I couldn't resist!

throttleforward said:

If any of you are in the DC area and want to go for a flight over the Chesapeake Bay, let me know!

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well, neighbor, let's talk....

And thanks a lot for sharing this story.

Why are many of us not even going after "smaller" dreams like this?

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Ha Ha, because "Get Rich Slow" has killed those dreams.

We are being methodically brainwashed to sacrifice dreams and a better life for an asinine financial plan accepted by mainstream ... save 10% of your check, stop drinking expensive coffee, sacrifice NOW because golly-gee, that $100 month invested in a mutual fund for 50 years will be worth millions from now! This plan leaves little room for dreams; even ones that don't require a lot of $$$ ... did you know renting a CESNA plane for a few hours would do to the budget!? You like boating? Forget it, do you know how much it costs to own a boat? A Corvette? Are you nuts? The insurance is expensive! Forget all of it and settle for less (in other words, forget about those dreams)

Sacrifice your youth so you can live well while you're old ... the plan is downright idiotic.

The worst part of the slowlane is inflation. It alone kills any chance at saving your way to financial freedom. I took a financial planning class in college, and one day we projected what we would need to have in liquid assets per year in our 70's to maintain a middle class lifestyle - the numbers were staggering! By the time I hit the nursing homes, people will literally be spending millions per year just on nursing home expenses alone! There is no way you can save 10% of your middle class income to survive that - you most certainly would have to depend on the inflation-adjusted salaries of your children to pay for your expenses.

This is why I believe that if you can find a way to cheaply house and service the elderly in a dignified but cost-controlled way, you will solve a huge upcoming problem and will likely make millions.

PhxMJ said:

Ha Ha, because "Get Rich Slow" has killed those dreams.

We are being methodically brainwashed to sacrifice dreams and a better life for an asinine financial plan accepted by mainstream ... save 10% of your check, stop drinking expensive coffee, sacrifice NOW because golly-gee, that $100 month invested in a mutual fund for 50 years will be worth millions from now! This plan leaves little room for dreams; even ones that don't require a lot of $$$ ... did you know renting a CESNA plane for a few hours would do to the budget!? You like boating? Forget it, do you know how much it costs to own a boat? A Corvette? Are you nuts? The insurance is expensive! Forget all of it and settle for less (in other words, forget about those dreams)

Sacrifice your youth so you can live well while you're old ... the plan is downright idiotic.

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Damn man, you sure do have a way with making that sound depressing as hell. That should be the prelude to your book. haha

Icy said:

Damn man, you sure do have a way with making that sound depressing as hell. That should be the prelude to your book. haha

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It pretty much is the prelude.

bateati said:

People are either going to go for it, or they will just talk about it.

If your just the "talk about it person" we can be acquaintances sure, but don't consider yourself my friend. I don't really like you to be honest, your piss poor motivation is not going to wear off on me. No matter how nice you are, I don't want you around. I really have no respect for those who just sit around and ride the wave.

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While this works for friends (not family), you may want to tone down your loathing for go-nowhere people w/lack of motivation.

Some of them make great long term employees-- something you will need, and value, if you own a business and have others doing work for you.

-Russ H.

PhxMJ said:

Ha Ha, because "Get Rich Slow" has killed those dreams.

We are being methodically brainwashed to sacrifice dreams and a better life for an asinine financial plan accepted by mainstream ... save 10% of your check, stop drinking expensive coffee, sacrifice NOW because golly-gee, that $100 month invested in a mutual fund for 50 years will be worth millions from now! This plan leaves little room for dreams; even ones that don't require a lot of $$$ ... did you know renting a CESNA plane for a few hours would do to the budget!? You like boating? Forget it, do you know how much it costs to own a boat? A Corvette? Are you nuts? The insurance is expensive! Forget all of it and settle for less (in other words, forget about those dreams)

Sacrifice your youth so you can live well while you're old ... the plan is downright idiotic.

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Ain't that the truth.

Work hard, save for retirement. Thats a suckers game. And every time I see someone get F*cked by this they do it all over again.

Russ H said:

Some of them make great long term employees

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And for many people, this is the dream! Imagine that! By providing someone a long-term, "safe secure" job, you can be filling someone's dream.

Russ H said:

While this works for friends (not family), you may want to tone down your loathing for go-nowhere people w/lack of motivation.

Some of them make great long term employees-- something you will need, and value, if you own a business and have others doing work for you.

-Russ H.

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Very true Russ, thanks for bringing that up.

I'm not really near hiring people to work for me yet. As I progress I think my attitude will change. I just need to stay fierce in my current position to keep driving on through the tough times.

I told my college councilor I don't care if I have a degree, there are just certain things I'd like to know and taking classes I'm not interested in does not appeal to me because it's a pre-req for a degree. I'm here for knowledge for myself, I don't care if I can prove to others I know these things. I don't ever plan on working for anybody else again. I create my own jobs. She looked at me like I was crazy or stupid.

PhxMJ said:

Ha Ha, because "Get Rich Slow" has killed those dreams.

We are being methodically brainwashed to sacrifice dreams and a better life for an asinine financial plan accepted by mainstream ... save 10% of your check, stop drinking expensive coffee, sacrifice NOW because golly-gee, that $100 month invested in a mutual fund for 50 years will be worth millions from now! This plan leaves little room for dreams; even ones that don't require a lot of $$$ ... did you know renting a CESNA plane for a few hours would do to the budget!? You like boating? Forget it, do you know how much it costs to own a boat? A Corvette? Are you nuts? The insurance is expensive! Forget all of it and settle for less (in other words, forget about those dreams)

Sacrifice your youth so you can live well while you're old ... the plan is downright idiotic.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's the idiots guide to life. I never understood why people would slave away all their youthful years and deny themselves the things they want just to live in comfort in old age. I want to fulfill my dreams now; not when I'm 65 and too old to really appreciate it. You tend to reach where you aim in life, so if you aim low you will get poor results. People also tend to make an excuse out of their kids; "Oh, I can't risk starting a business, because I have a family to support!" Then when their kids grow up and move away their new excuse becomes, "Oh, I can't risk wasting my money on starting a business when I'm close to retirement, not to mention I'd lose all the progress I made with the company I'm currently working for."

It's always one excuse after another. They'd rather get their steady paycheck than risk failing on their venture. If you're terrified of failure, you will never accomplish anything great. I remember when I was a kid, about 7 years old, my Phys ed. teacher told me to climb up a ladder and put a net in the basketball hoop on our school playground. I started to climb but then I got scared so I started going back down, but she wouldn't allow me to. She told me to get back up there and finish the job so I decided to just get it over with and did the job. I'm glad she made me go back up because it taught me that I could overcome my fears and accomplish things that I would normally be scared to try. These lessons are taught to us when we're young but we tend to lose them when we become adults for some reason; we become more risk averse rather than risk takers. We're scared of looking bad in front of others if we fail.

Darkside said:

If you're terrified of failure, you will never accomplish anything great. ...We're scared of looking bad in front of others if we fail.

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Rep! The fear of failure is crippling but the more one faces it, the easier it gets. The bottom line is that we all have only one life to live and tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us. Get out there and make a good plan, and have the guts to put it into action!

Right now! Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not this excuse then that excuse...

R i g h t N o w

Bump...

Another thread that I consider having good material...

For anyone browsing old threads, the text of original article has moved, but can be found here:
For God’s sake, follow your dreams - Amit Jotwani Sadly, the original comments appear to be gone though. Drat!

My takeaway: If you're waiting for the perfect time to follow your dreams, you might be waiting forever, always in "reasonable" increments -- just 'til the kids are older, 'til this is paid off, 'til I've got this much saved. Funny, it's the same way about starting a family, if you wait until the time is "right," you'll never have children.

It's interesting to see that (if I'm reading it correctly), the author of the original article is once again working for someone else. So he followed his dream, but apparently, it didn't pan out as he'd hoped, and he's back in a slowlane type of path.

Regardless, he won't have to wonder what-if, because he DID follow his dreams.

GREAT Article.