Act Your Dream

A fourteen-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean changed my life forever. On Tuesday, I was a senior executive at a bank; on Wednesday, a job seeker. I and my wife had taken a chance on a new country, and on everything we thought we possessed–our education, our talents and our optimism. We were past the point of no-return. We were so determined to make it work for ourselves and for our three-and-a- half year old daughter that we were gladly willing to sacrifice everything that had protected us thus far from the uncertainties of life–the things that constituted the status quo for us and kept us from considering taking any risks in life. Arriving in Toronto on a frigid November night made us realize the enormity of the change we had embraced, perhaps unknowingly. Were we scared? Yes. Were we unsure? Yes. Were we demoralized? Hell, no. Our spirits were high and our ambition pumped a gushing river of hope into our hearts. Challenging our complacence made perfect sense to us. Why I w...

Thomas J. Stanley’s famous book, The Millionaire Mind , was first published in 2000. Although I read it for the first time 10 years ago, the message was still resoundingly relevant when I wrote my book, The First Dancer earlier this year. Stanley’s book does not pander to people’s desires to hit the jackpot. It does not blabber about the trivia of financial technicalities and meaningless jargon; it presents vivid sketches of first generation millionaires and exemplifies key differences between the “Income Sheet Affluent” and the “Balance Sheet Affluent” millionaires—differences in terms of their mindsets as well as their lifestyles. Before we talk about creating financial wealth, it is extremely critical to fully understand two things. First, it is never impossible to get out of any financial challenges you might be in. Do not think that financial difficulties are ordained upon you, or that you are not meant to be rich. If people with much less intelligence than you can amass s...