The key to success is understanding why you chose your current career path and what you hope to accomplish. In this article, I am giving you just one example of what your ‘why’ could be with the George Foreman quote below.

“The question isn’t at what age I want to retire, it’s at what income.” 

I have been intrigued and inspired by a retired orthodontist living in my neighborhood. He has a beautiful home, a winter home in Florida and a boat docked a short distance away for weekend adventures. He is a member of a local country club where he plays golf or tennis three times a week, and gets two new cars every few years. Last winter when the power went out for several days, he decided to install a generator that will keep his entire house going the next time we lose power. For me it is not about the material things he is able to purchase, but the fact that even in his retirement he can choose where he wants to live, how he wants to live and what he wants to spend his money on. I want to create a life where I will have the freedom to make these choices too.

 According to author and speaker Chuck Blakeman; retirement is a really bad, bankrupt, industrial-age idea and we need to replace it with lifetime goals. He recommends that we build a lifestyle today that supports our dreams and one that will carry over into our later years (I did not say retirement). He feels there are three critical things wrong with retirement:

1. It is a goal realized. Once you achieve your goal…you are no longer motivated.
2. The very concept of retirement teaches us to put off doing something meaningful and substantial until we retire. How many times have you heard, “when I retire, I am going to…”.
3. Do we really have to wait until retirement and then enjoy living?

My neighbor mentioned above had a great life prior to retirement and has continued on with the same lifestyle in retirement. I want to have a great lifestyle now and build the wealth that will enable me to thrive in retirement…not just survive. To achieve my ‘why’ did I go into business for myself, I am going to take three simple, life-changing steps:

1. I am going to decide what I want to accomplish with my business
2. I am going to pick a date for when I will accomplish it
3. I will go public and tell others my goal and my date

Building a successful lifestyle today that will carry into your retirement is a great ’why’ for building your own business. Let’s create a lifestyle today that secures the future we dream about. If my neighbor can do it…we can do it too!