Wealth Well DoneWealth Well DoneWealth Well DoneWealth Well Done
  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT
    • Q & A
    • START
  • NOVEL
  • WEALTH
    • Mind
    • Money
    • Invest
    • Purpose
    • Net-Worth
    • God
    • Dj Fiction
    • Videos
  • EVERYTHING
  • BLOGROLL
  • FOLLOW
    • RSS
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Audio – iTunes
  • CONTACT
NextPrevious
achieve your dreams

How to Achieve Your Dreams & Avoid The Prisons That Trap Your Soul

By Billy B | God | 22 comments | 5 November, 2019 | 1

I was invited to speak in a High School as a motivational speaker this week about achieving your dreams.  That’s pretty cool especially because I was a total screw-up as a young person.  I’m pretty proud that I’m now respected enough to be seen as a leader who can teach people how to achieve their dreams.

 

I told the kids not to stress about understanding their entire purpose in life all at once.  Their purpose will come in time.  The secret to a successful life, I said, is by staying out of three prisons that will try to incarcerate their souls.  More on these prisons below, but here are the main ideas I tried to inspire the kids with:

 

steps to achieve your dreams

 

I tried to go deeper than a normal motivational speaker would.  I wanted to share some of the insights that I have learned in my 37 years of experiencing failure and success.  Insights such as: There’s many prisons you can get trapped in if you’re not careful with your decisions.

 

I talked about my past drug-use in my teenage years, and struggles with my addictive personality throughout my life.  I described my feelings when I lost a good friend to a drug overdose when I was 21 years old, and how that horrible event impacted all of my views on life.  I talked about how I chose to abandon many of my old destructive behaviors and relationships after my friend died, and how I pursued a better life that has led to me to the drug-free and successful life I live now on a daily basis.

 

Ultimately, I tried to inspire them that they can live any dream they want to in life if they start with small goals, and raise their goals with each achievement they make.  What insights have I learned in my 37 years of life that are worth sharing?  To me, life is pretty simple and awesome if you can just master this one powerful insight:

 

Avoid bad decisions that will incarcerate your soul, and turn your life into a prison, and you will be free to live your dreams forever. 

 

Important note:  And I don’t just mean the physical prisons.  Every person knows they should avoid the obvious prisons, such as: jails and correctional-institutions.  But I told them there are many other “invisible prions” that are just as damaging to creating happiness as real prisons.  These “invisible prisons” come in many shapes and forms, such as: mental, emotional, and financial cages we lock ourselves in each time we make a bad decision.

 

I told the kids that the secret to achieving your dreams, is to make decisions that will lead you to freedom, and not get you trapped inside physical, mental, and emotional cages, such as:

 

Self-Esteem Prisons:    

Too many people in the world get stuck inside self-esteem prisons because someone lied to them in their life.  They get caught in these psychological prisons because some loser in their life once told them they weren’t smart, pretty, or good enough.  They were told they wouldn’t amount to anything by someone who probably hadn’t amounted to anything, and they make the mistake of believing them.

 

I explained that these lies then create cages inside our minds and they trap our souls inside them.  These lies become like vampire leeches that slowly suck our self-esteem out of our souls.  People who believe lies about themselves become locked in emotional cages for 10, 20, 30+ years, (or their entire life), because they choose to believe they’re not good human beings.  But the truth is nothing is wrong with them.  They are exactly who they should be.  They just believed the lies of another flawed human being.

 

Achieving your dreams, is all about escaping these mental prisons that want to steal your potential, and lock you inside a black hole of depression.  The secret to success is to unlock your mind from these cages of lies and harmful thoughts.  Listen to your heart.  Be who your soul wants you to be.  You are good enough.  You are pretty enough.  You can be a warrior.  You can change your life.  You can do anything you set your mind to as long as you’re willing to work your butt off to achieve your dreams.

Financial Prisons:

I told the kids that as they graduate college, there’s going to be a lot of banks, credit card companies, and loan sharks that will come hunting for their money.  These credit and lending operations are going to seem friendly and helpful at first.  They are going to offer to pay for their education, and buy them a new car, and a home, and a bunch of nice clothes, and a bunch of junk they really don’t need, as long as they keep signing on the dotted line every time new a new loan is approved and their credit limit increases.

 

But I warned the kids: it’s all a trap.  Those loans are just financial prisons they want to get you in.  Financial prisons look like fun and a great deal at first.  Until you realize they have to pay it all back with monthly payments eventually. Those monthly payments become so big and overwhelming eventually that they start feeling like nooses around your neck.  Suddenly your freedom to do what they want with your life is gone.  Your ability to think about the dreams you want to pursue is also gone.  You are now stuck inside a financial prison, where your entire life purpose is paying the loan companies back.

 

Once you’re stuck inside a financial prison, with it’s razor-wire fences of debt, your decisions will be forced to revolve around paying your bills, and not exploring your soul and finding out who you are meant to be.  The more time you spend doing things you DON’T want to do, the less time you have to do the things you really want to do.  That is my definition of a prison, even if these types of prisons are mostly invisible.

 

Physical Prisons:

I know not everyone will end up in handcuffs and in physical prisons, but 30% of American’s do have a criminal record.  That’s 1 in 3!  So the odds are that some of the kids in that classroom will make bad decisions that put them in the back of a squad car, or a jail cell, or even into a prison-institution at some point in their life.  Making bad decision is a slippery slope if you’re not careful.  These misfortunes can happen to anyone.  A lot of people have had one too many drinks and get behind the wheel of a car.  A lot of people make bad decisions with drugs, and end up waking up in jail for God knows what.  Sometimes people make even worse decisions, that can lead to even worse consequences.

 

Ultimately, I tried to tell the kids that the easiest way to stay out of all of these prisons in life, is to really focus on the decisions they are making.  I asked them to examine where their decisions leading them to.  What type of people did they want to become?  How could they make better decisions that will naturally lead them to achieving their dreams?

 

I tried to get them to think for themselves and discover the answers to these questions on their own.  I tried to lead them to the revelation that if they can avoid the three prisons I listed above (physical, financial, and self-esteem prisons), then their life will be in better shape than 80% of the American population out there right now.  If you can avoid the prisons trying to incarcerate your soul, then you will be free to achieve the dreams that you were created to live.

 

Ultimately, our definition of what wealth means here at Wealth Well Done, is much more than how much money you make or have.  Our definition of wealth is also determined by how many prisons you avoid becoming trapped inside.  The wealthiest person in the world is NOT the person with the most money.  The wealthiest person in the world is the person who has the ability, time, money, energy, and freedom, to go on an adventure in life and achieve their dreams no matter how big, crazy, or wild they are.

 

I believe wealth is the ability to listen to God full-time, and then execute the vision God gives you.

 

The kids in the High School classroom seemed to be super-engaged with these insights.  I spoke for an hour for each class, and filled that entire hour up with a segment for questions at the end.  My answers to their questions reminded me of this chart my wife recently made for our blogging friends over at Millennial Revolution.  (If you want to read an even crazier, deeper story that inspired this post, click this link when you’re done reading this article)  This info-graphic below shows the steps it takes to achieve your dreams and live the life you were created to live:

The Steps to Achieve Your Dream Life:

 

steps to achieving your dreams

 

The First Step to Achieve Your Dreams: A Stable Life.  When you first commit to changing your life, just try to stop being a black hole of badness in the world.  Haha.  Take a deep breath.  Slow down.  Pay off debt.  Cut the cord connecting you to harmful friendships and relationships.  Turn to God.  Ask for Help.  Save an emergency fund of $1000 cash.  Do everything you can to stop the negativity spewing out of your life and contaminating your reality.  In this first stage, just focus on making the small decisions that will make your life stable again.

 

The Second Step to Achieve Your Dreams: A Comfortable Life.  Once your life begins to be stable again, and negative energy isn’t erupting out of your life like an exploding volcano, focus your energy on creating comfort in your life.  Relax.  Chill.  Take some time off.  Take an affordable vacation.  Learn to think happy thoughts.  Become grateful that your life isn’t a black hole spewing radioactive negativity anymore.  Your actions aren’t sucking you into a prison of depression and misery on a daily basis.

 

Be proud that you saved an emergency fund of $1000 cash in your bank account.  Enjoy your hard-earned comfort.  You now have a buffer between you, and the harsh realities that happen to all of us on earth. Soak in the feelings of your new found peace and bliss.  Enjoy some faith that you will be OK in life.

 

The Third Step to Achieve Your Dreams:  A Happy Life.  Now that you’re stable and comfortable, begin to seek small achievements and experiences that create happiness in life.  Exercise.  Talk to God.  Listen to your soul.  Make positive friendships.  Enjoy the presence of inspiring humans.  Be grateful for what you have, where you’ve been, and where you’re going.  If you’ve made mistakes in your past, be willing to forgive yourself.  It’s Ok to be sorry.  Make amends with yourself, and the world, and be willing to move on.  You’re only alive once.  It’s Ok.  You can be happy again.

 

The Fourth Step to Achieving Your Dreams:  A Wealthy Life.  Now that your stable, comfortable, and happy, increase your savings goals (target saving 20%-50% of your income) and start saving major money and start creating wealth!  Focus on creating a positive, healthy relationship with money in your new life.  Money is not a substance that makes you happy.  Money is just a tool — a resource — that can buy your adventures to go out into the world and create your happiness by achieving your dreams.

 

I believe money is one of the greatest resources known to man because it can be transformed into almost anything by trading it for the things and opportunities you need to achieve your dreams.  This is why it’s important for you to save as much money as you can if your goal is to achieve your dreams.  Money can’t buy happiness.  But it can buy you the adventures you need to create your happiness.

 

The Fifth Step to Achieving Your Dreams:  Attack Your Dreams:  Take everything you’ve learned from steps 1-3, and all the money you’ve saved in step 4, and the only thing left is for you to travel fearlessly into the world to attack and achieve your dreams.

 

Remember this for motivation as you go through these steps:  You are going to die one day.  Your time here on earth will end at an unknown place and time.  Don’t die with regrets.  The only way to die without regret is to do everything you can to achieve your dreams while you are alive.  Even if you don’t achieve every dream you have, it’s Ok.  Peace, purpose, and meaning are found in the minds of those who try. There’s great honor and peace in doing your best, and trying your hardest.  I believe dying without regrets is a form of wealth even more valuable than all the money in the world.

 

So that’s all I have to talk about this week.  Look at the chart again.  What step are you on?  Where do you want to go?  How are you going to get there?  How soon?  All in all, enjoy your life, your family, and your journey.  God bless you as you take your steps toward your dreams:

steps to achieving your dreams

 

STUFF WE LOVE:

Personal Capital is a net-worth calculating tool that turns your finances into a puzzle that’s fun to solve.  It’s free and makes monitoring your money easy.

Bluehost is how we started this blog.  Launch yourself onto the internet.  Your friends are out there.  It’s an easy to start your blog today.

 

Get posts to your inbox:
Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get VIP access to our hidden media page:
acheive your dreams, achieving your dreams, chasing your dreams
  • Erik @ The Mastermind Within November 30, 2017 at 9:09 am

    What a fantastic post. This is both raw but also inspiring – I’m a huge proponent of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but I like yours more as it ties in with my life and financial freedom in a much stronger way.

    I’m somewhere in between 3 and 5. Attacking my dreams makes me happy, and my dreams include building wealth, so all of them tie together 🙂

    Thanks for sharing. I’ll throw a link in one of my recent posts

    • Billy B November 30, 2017 at 9:23 am

      Thanks, friend. I am also a huge proponent of Maslow’s Heirarchy of Needs. I actually wrote a post on how it inspired my journey to create wealth and find my purpose in life here: https://www.wealthwelldone.com/purpose-of-life-create-wealth/

      Our chart on achieving your dreams is probably a hybrid of Maslow’s experience studying human behavior, and our experience creating wealth. I hope it can help someone. I am somewhere between steps 4 and 5. I spend 50% of my time running a sales business I like, but isn’t my life passion, for my main income. But then I spend the other 50% of my time doing what I love and attacking my dreams by investing in real estate, speaking in schools, and building this blog. So just like you, sometimes the steps blend together as you climb them. Looking forward to the day where I can live in step #5 full time. It may take me years, but I have my marathon shoes on. 🙂

  • Fritz Gilbert November 30, 2017 at 9:29 am

    GREAT post, I see a Rockstar award for this one! Awesome that you were given the opportunity to influence so many lives, at an age where it’s critical that they learn the lessons from one who’s been there. Really happy to see this, and you taught them (and us) a great lesson!

    In my life, I’m at Level 4, moving rapidly to Level 5. I’ll FIRE in 191 Days, and I’m looking forward to dedicating myself to the pursuit of Level 5. “Don’t die with regrets.” Great advice.

    • Billy B December 4, 2017 at 8:30 am

      Thanks Fritz!!! A few days after you Retweeted it, I am on Rock Star finance today! I just love to create writing that people enjoy reading, and I am so grateful it found an audience. (Thanks to you!)

  • Mrs Groovy November 30, 2017 at 4:14 pm

    Great post! I agree with Fritz that it’s Rockstar worthy!

    I think the first step towards stability is hard for many young people. Looking back, I saw stability for boring and not being special. Of course now I realize that’s a myth but I’m not sure I could convince my 21 year-old self that.

    • Billy B December 4, 2017 at 8:43 am

      Thanks Mrs Groovy! I totally agree with you! The first step is always the hardest! Whether that first step is to fight for lifestyle changes, cures to depression, or new financial goals, taking that first step is what separates the winners and losers in life. I am also with you that at 21 years old, I used to also think stability was boring and was for losers. I remember looking at sober, responsible people, and thinking what boring lives!!! And now I am the one living that life and saying this stable life is freaking awesome because I’m healthy, wealthy, and achieving my dreams!!!!!! Not a bad combo to have in life!

  • Mrs Groovy November 30, 2017 at 4:16 pm

    Woops — I saw stability as a synonym for…. maybe you can fix that.

  • Steve @ Think Save Retire December 3, 2017 at 9:03 pm

    Amen, Bill! Just try. Even if you don’t fully succeed, who cares. Most of us spend way too much of our lives unfulfilled – me included, until I realized what happiness meant to me, and actively took the steps necessary to change it. “Rockstar” article, Bill. 🙂

    • Billy B December 4, 2017 at 8:49 am

      Thanks Steve! You nailed it: The key to wealth is not to have extreme amounts of money. It’s to find ways to feel extremely fulfilled with enough money. That’s the goal to shoot for. (I think you just inspired me to have my wife, Amanda, (who does the art for our blog), create an info-graphic showing that equilibrium point and write a post on it one day. Thanks!

  • AdventureRich December 4, 2017 at 5:26 am

    Really incredible… prisons come in all types and they can trap you in many ways. I would say I am somewhere in the 3-4 range, working on creating happiness and wealth at the same time. 🙂

    • Billy B December 4, 2017 at 8:52 am

      What up, friend! You totally got the point. “Prisons come in all shapes and sizes and can trap your happiness and potential in many ways.” The way to a happy, healthy, wealthy life is easy: Just stay out of as many of those prisons as you can and chase your dreams as you go!!!!

  • [email protected] December 4, 2017 at 5:47 am

    This is a great article and a great reminder. I agree 100% with the Stages to your dream life. And it’s so true that throwaway lies people tell you can destroy you, if you let them. I talk to my kids about that all the time. Those kids you spoke to were lucky to have you speak.

    • Billy B December 4, 2017 at 9:03 am

      Thanks Laurie! Wealth is NOT all about money! It’s about learning how to be happy with the money you save. One of the best ways to do that is to do an audit on your mind. Weed out the lies, and embrace the truths you find. Thanks for the kind words. This was my first time to doing this presentation and it went over so well I’m sure I’ll use it again. It’s hard to hold high-schoolers attention for an entire hour, but there wasn’t a peep in that classroom the entire hour I spoke and all eyes were on me the entire time. That made me feel pretty awesome.

  • Elephant Eater (@elephant_eater) December 4, 2017 at 6:03 am

    Today is the first Monday of my early retired life, and reading this gave me much to be grateful for as I think of the decisions and steps we took to get to “Stage 5”, and plenty to think about regarding what I want to do next. Great post and certainly worthy of the “Rockstar” treatment it got.

    • Billy B December 4, 2017 at 9:05 am

      Enjoy early-retired life!!!!!! And with that “grateful attitude” I see your comment, I am sure you will enjoy it. I am sure you worked your butt off to get here, and now sit back and review the chart I made, and smell all the roses you experienced, and challenges you overcame, on your journey to step #5. You did it and I am proud of you!!!!!!

  • Dave December 4, 2017 at 6:28 am

    Great post. This post embodies what a Rockstar featured post should be. Just keep moving forward. Making a little progress everyday will add up to a successful life in the end. A good read to start the day.

    • Billy B December 4, 2017 at 9:08 am

      Well Done!!!!! And thanks for the cool comment. You totally get what it takes: No matter what set backs you have had, or failures you have experienced, you can come back from anything if you just commit to little steps at a time and let you little achievements compound into HUGE achievements!!! God bless you as you rock and roll on your financial journey man!!!!

  • Jerry Brown December 4, 2017 at 10:48 am

    Wow, nicely written. I love it!

  • Lee December 4, 2017 at 11:07 am

    Love this! Wish someone had explained this to me when I was in high school. Would have saved me years of prison time. 🙂

  • firecrackerrev December 4, 2017 at 4:05 pm

    “30% of American’s do have a criminal record.” Wow. I had no idea it was that high. Just goes to show, lot of people make mistakes. No one is perfect.

    You are absolutely right in that we need to avoid the prisons of our mind, financially and with respect to self-esteem. Things are so much scarier inside our heads than they are in real life.

    Congrats on being a feature post on RockStar! Keep on hustling, my friend!

  • Four Pillar Freedom December 12, 2017 at 4:10 pm

    Great article and congrats on the Rockstar feature, it’s well deserved. Also, I love that visual at the beginning with the ‘5 stages to your dream life’. It really captures the idea of starting small, creating comfort, growing wealth, then attacking dreams. Love it!

  • The Luxury Change December 14, 2017 at 8:44 pm

    This is the best! And you are the best! I loved the post and it’s really inspiring, I was between step 3 and 5, and then made some mistakes and I’m now back to step 1,so there’s been a ton of radioactive spiraling out of control negativity like you said, and reading this was a stop, breath and start again. Thank you!

NextPrevious

We’re Bill and Amanda. Welcome to our blog about money, life, and happiness. Wealth is the ability to say, “I love my life.” This is our #1 goal every day.

Personal Capital is our favorite tool to track our net-worth and monitor our money. It’s free. Try it today:

“Sofi is amazing.” – Review from a friend crushing their student loan debt. You get a $100 credit for a student loan refi or a personal loan with this link:

Skyscanner is our favorite website to find cheap flights. Learn how to use it here:

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feed

DISCLAIMERS & DISCLOSURES

The writer’s at, Wealth Well Done, only claim that our thoughts are real and true inside our heads.  Anyone outside of the writer’s head, should consume these thoughts as inspiration to find your own real and true thoughts. We are not licenced bankers, CPA’s, money managers, or anything else of that sort. Please seek a reputable professional for any advice in which a licenced professional could better serve you. More info: DISCLAIMERS & DISCLOSURES

  • ABOUT
    • ABOUT
    • Q & A
    • START
  • NOVEL
  • WEALTH
    • Mind
    • Money
    • Invest
    • Purpose
    • Net-Worth
    • God
    • Dj Fiction
    • Videos
  • EVERYTHING
  • BLOGROLL
  • FOLLOW
    • RSS
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Audio – iTunes
  • CONTACT
Wealth Well Done