Now I know why

Have you ever thought about why you do what you do to make money? I get the whole 'I really like to eat on a regular basis', and 'I prefer for rain to fall outside instead of on my head' thing; we all have to try and survive. But a few months ago I realized that's all I was doing, surviving. I had a vague idea of what I would do if I had a choice, I would write books, travel the world to research those books, take my grandkids places and pass on what I have learned, and spend winters in a warm environment, either by taking multiple vacations or by having a winter home. However, that's all my dreams were, vague outlines in the fog of my mind.

Of course, this was more fantasy than dream...how would you even go about doing such a thing? Sure, I ran my own used and rare book business, and while there are external pressures that make it harder to turn a profit these days, I was still doing okay. But 'okay' doesn't buy your dreams; if you're lucky it buys you supper and a roof over your head. Maybe you can occasionally afford a treat or a luxury, such as movie night or a weekend in Nashville, or if you spend carefully and save up, a week in Destin. But beyond that, 'okay' is not going to cut it, it is not the vehicle for dream fulfillment.

So that's why I was doing what I did, and that's all I thought I could ever do. I had heard my whole life that I needed to be 'realistic', that you have to be careful in life and not overreach yourself, or you risked crashing in financial flames. How many times did I hear from well-meaning DreamStealers, "I just don't want to see you get hurt?" I spent my whole life taking financial advice from broke people. And so, I aimed low.

Not anymore. I finally discovered what wealthy people have always known: being 'realistic' means never achieving my dreams. I thought that was wrong, that being 'realistic' was the right choice, that wealthy people somehow won life's lottery or were just lucky to get where they are. Boy, was I wrong! Wealthy people got there because they refused to be realistic. And while I wish I had discovered this twenty years ago, I'm just glad I figured it out now, while I still have time to live my dreams.

Every single day I hear people throw out excuses why they cannot live their dreams. Every...single...day. What makes me sad is that there are always the same three or four excuses I used to give to similar questions: "I don't have the time", "I'm not good at that", "that will never work", "I don't have the money"...I can still hear myself saying it. Excuses, excuses.

Are there risks to not being 'realistic'? Sure there are. But so what? No guts, no glory, right? That's what champions say, that's what I used to say all the time, except I didn't really mean it.

So when you read or hear me say "I'm a lucky guy", it's because I have finally discovered how not to make excuses anymore. I have finally found out how to make my dreams become a reality, and that the vehicle for doing that is me. Nothing else, just me. The new venture Kathy and I embarked on has taught me far more about myself than it has about business, because that's what I most needed to learn to be a success.

My dreams are going to come true. I have a two-year time frame, that's when I will be able to devote myself to my dream. Two years of working hard is nothing, I've spent forty-five years doing that already. But finally I see my way out, finally I have found the road to fulfilling my dreams. I wish everyone could learn what I have learned, could feel the exhilaration I now feel, but I can't want success more for them than they want for themselves, I can only concentrate on me.

So if you see me wearing my trademark Guy Harvey shirt with sharks or tuna swimming on the back, you'll know why I wear them: those are my 'why'. I'm a very lucky guy.