Are Your Dreams Yours, OR Do You Just Think They Are?

I grew up in the 1980s — the decade that brought us Dallas and DeLorean, Madonna and MTV, Chernobyl and Cats, the Tylenol Murders and the discovery of the Titanic, Rubik’s Cube and Reykjavik, Farm Aid, the fitness craze — and so much more. Our President, Ronald Reagan, was the ultimate optimist – challenging the Soviet Union to “Tear Down This Wall.” There was nothing we could not dream of and nothing that we could not have.

My dream was not be a police officer, fireman, or astronaut – no – my dream was to be like Mike. No, not Michael Jordan, but rather Michael Douglas’ character Gordan Gecko from the movie Wallstreet.  Remember Gordon Gecko, the corporate raider and unabashed proponent of wealth and capitalism:

“The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works…. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.” – Gordon Gecko

So with aspiring dreams of growing up to be mega wealthy and powerful, having all that I could, I set out to be like Gordon Gecko while in middle school. My father, who has never been one to hold me back from my dreams bought me my own PC, and my first computer game – no, not Pac-Man – but Corporate Raider! I was taking action at a young age to achieve my dream.

(On, a side note, I told my Dad to buy stock in this small computer company up the road in Austin where this college kid was building PCs in his college dorm room. He didn’t. Oh well.)

So I graduated high school with honors, in the top ten of my class,  and took off to begin my quest to earn my MBA and move to New York to conquer Wall Street (I actually was accepted to and started college while still in high school.) I had a plan and I was working it. Success was just around the corner. I was doing everything successful people do.

My first apartment and my Granny!

My father helped me get my first apartment, my uncle gave me the down payment for my first car, and my mother co-signed on my luxury sports coupe. (Yeah, I know I have a great family.) The only condition was that I get a part time job to help pay my expenses while I went to school. No problem – I went out and got a job selling electronics in the mall. What a great job for an 18 year old college freshman (I learned more about sales in my 6 months there than I have in the 17 years since.) I was on my way to being Gordon Gecko, my idol.

Now I am in college and taking all the business courses that are required for a Finance Degree – accounting, micro and macro economics, statistics, etc… – and switch from selling TVs in the mall, to selling homes for my father. I had a $5,000 dollar paycheck 90 days after going to work my father. I was on my way.

Then I got my grades – Failing all business courses. The only thing I had an A in was Russian language. HUH? I never failed anything – I was a straight A student since pre-school. I needed these classes to be Gordon Gecko. My dream was slipping away from me.

You see, in college I was exposed to different people with different ideas and dreams. I found I loved literature and history and geology – and hated economics. I found that my dream was not my dream at all. I did not want it bad enough. So no matter the goals I set or the plans I created – I could not take action to achieve those results. My dream was out of alignment with my natural mission or purpose. The values that a corporate raider would possess were not my values, therefore I could not live that role in life, and my visions of the future that I wanted had changed.

Failing out of college was the best thing that ever happened to me. REALLY. It made me realize what my real vision of who I wanted to be was and it wasn’t Gordon Gecko. If it had been I would have graduated at the top of my class and received my MBA. I have no doubt. Instead, while working with my father I discovered my real dream, the real vision of who I wanted to be, the role I wanted to play, and the values that were important to me. No, my dream wasn’t  to be like Gordon Gecko – My dream was (and still is) to be like my dad.

You can’t have success until you define “Success on Your Terms.” Success is LIVING what’s MOST important to you. Daily. And you can’t be successful until you discover what is most important to you – your natural missions – until you define the roles that you play and desire to play, the values that are most important to you, and the vision of how you see yourself living your roles in alignment with your values.

Success to me is being like my father. I went on to a career in sales, becoming a Vice President (my Role) for a national non-profit organization (in alignment with my values) that helped thousands of low income families become homeowners (my vision of living my role in alignment with my values) . Today, I am an entrepreneur, a salesman, a trainer and speaker.

So when people ask me why I believe I am a success – I answer, “…because not only I am like my father, I get to work with him and we get to fulfill our dreams together.”

Want help to discover your natural missions? Then register today for your free personal workshop on finding your natural mission!

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