Who says you can’t live your dream life? For many of us, it seems that our lives are lived like a broken record. We get up, eat breakfast (maybe), got to work, come home, eat dinner, go to sleep, then repeat. Over and over again, day in and day out. Why do we do this? Because we have been taught that this is the way to make it in the world. This is what you have to do.
But wait a minute! It seems that when I was a child I was told that I could be anything I wanted to be. Or was that just a dream? Anyway, I don’t know which one, nor does it matter. All I know is that I had this image of living my dream life, and now all I see is a dizzying lifestyle that is getting me nowhere fast, except maybe my grave.
All of this changed when I was laid off from my job of over 30 years. After surviving numerous outsourcing initiatives and company buyouts, this was it. What was I to do? I got a nice severance package, so that was a good thing, but I absolutely did NOT want to start this game over again somewhere else. This was when I made the decision that I was going to be my own boss, report to no one, and start living my dream.
The first thought though that comes into my head is: How to pay for a dream life? How will I afford to live the life of my dreams and how will I make that happen? That’s exactly what this article is about. Making it happen!
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Defining Your Dream Life
We all have that picture of what our dream life is. Whether it be living in the mountains surrounded by wildlife or relaxing on the beach like the picture above. The first thing we have to do is define what our dream life really is, and what it will take to get us there.
For me, my dream life is being able to enjoy the view of the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee from a secluded cabin. Just big enough for my wife and myself, and office, and a guest bedroom. Maybe a loft room also, since my son loves to sleep in the loft room ever since we took a trip to the Smokies when he was about 7. And Tennessee is so much cheaper than other states. There’s no state income tax, property taxes are low, and the people are just great. I know, because I lived there for nearly 10 years.
So, moving on. At the same time, we also love to spend time at the beach. So I need to be able to travel when I want to and maybe have a beach house that I rent when I’m not spending time at the beach. So right off the bat, I need to be mobile. However, I choose to support myself I’ve got to be able to do it remotely.
That’s what we call the laptop lifestyle, and it’s probably the same requirement most of us will have. Then I want to be able to afford a mountain home and a beach house or condo as a vacation home. And of course the regular stuff like a car and a truck.
Your dream life won’t be the same as mine, but I’m sure you’ll want to be living the laptop lifestyle and the freedom to do the things you want.
What Will Your Dream Life Cost You
Everything always comes down to money. How much will you need to be making to live that dream life? Each of us can pretty easily figure out what we’re going to need to make this happen. We are all at different places in our lives. Some may be young with no children and others maybe like me, 10 years from retirement and raising grandchildren to boot.
Whatever your situation is, sit down and figure out what you’re going to need on a monthly basis to realize your dream life. That needs to include paying off current debt, expenses to transition to a laptop lifestyle, moving, ongoing expenses, and let’s not forget retirement. We always need to be saving for a rainy day.
Once we know how much it’s going to take to live our dream life, we can sit down and create a plan for making it happen.
How To Pay For Your Dream Lifestyle
Now we know what it’s going to take, but how to pay for a dream life? That’s the question and I’ve got a good answer. When I was laid off and decided to be my own boss, I was lucky enough to run into a friend of mine that I had met about a decade earlier when I was dabbling in Affiliate Marketing.
I was not making any progress in the field and it was a side gig for me at the time. So I left the confines of the community we were a part of and got buried in my real job, while my friend continued. After running into him after nearly 10 years I found out that he had quit his regular job and now making a full-time income (a lot more than he had ever made before) in Affiliate Marketing.
Asking him how he did it, he just said that he never gave up at it. When something didn’t work, he got the help he needed and kept on going. Eventually, he became successful and had many streams of income building him a really nice lifestyle.
That’s when I thought that if he could do it, I could too, and so can you. Affiliate Marketing, in my opinion, it has to be one of the easiest businesses to set up and enable you to live that dream life. You can start on a shoestring budget and build your own very lucrative online business. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not going to happen overnight, but if you have persistence, you will become successful.
Why do I think this is such a good way to pay for your dream life? Look around you. Retail businesses are getting left in the dust by the likes of Amazon and other online retailers. The entire retail market is undergoing a massive shift to online purchasing. Big-name stores like Sears, JC Penny, Radio Shack, and many others did not position themselves to take advantage of this and look at what happened to them.
Look at Wal-Mart. They noticed what was going on. They already had a good thing going, then they opened Walmart.com so they could move to online purchasing. Now you can order your discounted stuff online, have it shipped to your home or your local Wal-Mart where your shopping already anyway. Did you know that YOU can sell Wal-Mart items as an Affiliate! YES! Just go to affiliates.walmart.com.
Affiliate Marketing is playing a HUGE part in this. Why? Because online retailers can sell their goods through Affiliates with ZERO ad spend. Affiliates join up and promote their products for free. It’s a win-win for both parties. And retailers can reach people they never would have through conventional advertising. You see that even Wal-Mart has gotten into the game using Affiliate Marketing.
What exactly is Affiliate Marketing and how do you get started
Affiliate Marketing is simply promoting someone else’s product or service by using an affiliate link. You do this from a website that you create. Before you get too worked up, don’t worry, it’s become so easy to build an affiliate website these days that you can literally do it with the push of a button. You don’t need any technical expertise beyond choosing a theme to your website created. Once you’ve done that, you can customize it and start adding your content.
Affiliate Marketing is all about helping people and creating a brand. As affiliates, we don’t just load a bunch of banners and pictures of items in hopes that someone might buy something through our links. We reach out to specific groups of people who have a need. We call this a niche. We reach out to them using website content with product reviews of specific items, and helpful/useful information to solve their problem, need or desire.
It is by helping and giving them what they are looking for that we are able to cultivate a relationship and build our own brand. Once we do that, our niche will trust us when we recommend a product.
I’ve written a lot of articles on how to get started Affiliate Marketing, but this one article below will give you everything you need to take the next step to pay for your dream life. It also contains many links to many other resources.
What You Need To Start Affiliate Marketing
“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”
– Pope John XXIII
How Long Will It Take
We live in the world of the NOW generation. Everyone is used to getting what they want now! However, good things come to those that wait, right. Or better yet, good things come to those who take action with persistence and have patience.
Affiliate Marketing is not a Get Rich Quick scheme. Those things don’t exist. Many irresponsible purveyors of money-making lies would have you believe that so you can fill THEIR pockets with cash. I’m here to tell you that they are just that, lies. I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but you’re creating a business and a lifestyle, and it takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day.
If you started going through the article link above, you’ll see that there is work that has to be done. Everyone works at a different pace. What it boils down to is, how bad do you want it? Some people would rather take chances with the stock market or the lottery, I’m honestly not sure which is better. But if you want to build a future and learn how to pay for a dream life, there’s work to be done.
I can tell that with utmost certainty that you will succeed if you want it bad enough. You must be willing to do what others won’t do because they think it’s too much work or too hard.
How long will it take you to achieve your income goals? That’s hard to say. With dedication and persistence, you may start making money within a few months. However, you have to keep building your authority and your brand to really start making good money and that takes time.
In Conclusion
How to pay for a dream life is more than just how to pay for it. It’s identifying your dream in detail and planning for the transition. We all want to live the dream life, but how many people do you know that actually are living a laptop lifestyle and have free time to enjoy family and fun?
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. And it doesn’t mean that only a lucky few get to enjoy their dream life. What it does mean is that it requires desire, hard work, and persistence to reach your goals. Not a lot of people are willing to do that. Are you? Or will you settle for mediocrity and always living short of your dreams?
Don’t put off to tomorrow what you can accomplish today. We are only here for a short while in the grand scheme of things. Time is precious, make the most of it.
Wishing you great success in all you do,
Michael
PS. Leave comments or questions below. I’d love to hear from you!
