WHAT IS YOUR VISION? Most really successful people have a big dream, and that dream determines how they use their time and energy. It’s so real for them that they can paint a detailed picture of how things will be once they have reached this ultimate goal. If we consider many of the world’s great entrepreneurs, their wealth is a by-product of their success. They rarely start out aiming to be rich; rather, they aim to change the world in some way. When Bill Gates started Microsoft, he had a vision of enabling every person in the world to own a home computer at a time when computers were large, enormously expensive, and used only by very big businesses, governments and universities. The idea of a computer for every person was nearly as crazy as people living on Mars (I guess Elon Musk might disagree about Mars). Similarly, Steve Jobs’s vision for Apple was ‘a company that turned powerful technology into tools that were easy to use, tools that would help people realise their dreams and change the world for the better’, according to Tim Cook, who succeeded Jobs as CEO of Apple. This is a grand vision that clearly does not relate to money, but Jobs became incredibly wealthy as a result of achieving his vision for Apple. Gates and Jobs are great examples of people who had a grand vision and were very successful in making their vision a reality. I’m convinced that financial success was never their top priority. Money is obviously important, but it should be a tool to help you achieve your personal vision. Many people who focus on becoming wealthy as their only goal fall short in time. Chasing short-term financial success at all costs causes you to take short cuts, and these often lead to poor decisions. For your personal vision, you don’t need to change the world or send people to Mars. Your goals can be more modest (mine certainly are), but it is important to have your own dream that will motivate you when the going gets tough. If you only live from day to day without a larger plan, you will be much like a boat at sea with no way of steering, no engine, no GPS and no map. You will just drift with the current and go where life takes you. This might sound romantic, but if you have a long-term goal, you need to have a map that helps you move towards your objective. This map becomes especially important when life knocks you off course and you need to find your way again. It is impossible to figure out where you are if you don’t have a map and an idea of where you want to go. To me, this is where your personal vision becomes so important. It’s the map for your life, and if you work on your map and make it as detailed as possible, you stand the best chance of reaching your goal even if life throws many obstacles in your path. #bitcoin