The following story exemplifies the success that is within your reach when applying these techniques. Our friend, Anthony, dreamed out loud about owning a flashy BMW Z4. After repeated mentions of this dream, we decided to see if he was serious about this goal. We asked him specifically when he would own the Z4 and how he would gather the necessary funds.

Anthony did not have a date or a plan, just the fantasy. We told him that unless he made several changes, he would never get the car of his dreams. The first step was to set a specific date. The second was to create a savings strategy to obtain the money. These steps were part of the physical homework. What remained was the mental homework.

To assist him in becoming comfortable with the idea of owning the new car we took him to the local BMW dealer, located a new red Z4 and with a Polaroid camera took a picture of Anthony leaning against the car as if he owned it. We took another photo of him driving the car (during the test drive) and another from behind him in the car. We also asked him to close his eyes (after he had parked) and describe the smells of the car – the new car smell, leather upholstery, etc. – and to note the feeling of being in the car. The reason for all this was to give him a multi-sensory connection with the car. Later, back in Anthony’s home, we placed the pictures in prominent spots such as the refrigerator, the bathroom mirror and inside his daily planner as positive reminders. The idea was for him to use the visuals as constant reminders of his goal. The more he saw himself in the car the more accustomed his mind would become to the idea. Anthony reviewed his financial situation and determined that he needed to save a lot of money for the down payment of the car. As a result he decided to apply for that better paying job that he had been procrastinating about for several weeks. He got the job and the pay increase but, most importantly, vowed not to increase his lifestyle. Instead, he cut his costs. He consolidated his debt by getting rid of his high interest credit cards and took out a small loan that he paid off over 12 months. The loan was for $10,000 at 7.5 per cent and he placed this money in a bank savings certificate at five per cent. Obviously this strategy cost him $250. but it became a forced savings plan. He had to repay the loan so he got used to having the payment automatically deducted every month.

In another strategy he took his weekly spending money of $125 as cash at the beginning of each week and placed it into his right pocket. Every time he went to make a purchase he would look at the picture in his daytimer and ask himself if it was really necessary. More often than not he would decide against the purchase and transfer that amount over to his left pocket. At the end of the week he would take the money from his left pocket and put it into his savings account. Any money remaining in his right pocket would go towards the next week’s fund.

Following these simple strategies, Anthony saved $12,823 over the 12-month period ($2,823 plus the $10,000 loan). The lease on his old car expired the day before he was to purchase his Z4. That afternoon he used the $12,823 as the down payment and financed the balance over a three-year period. With this healthy down payment, his monthly loan was $100 less than his previous lease payment. He took this $100 monthly surplus and rewarded himself by opening his first retirement savings plan. Today, after applying these and other creative savings habits(many of which are outlined in later chapters), he owns a beautiful, mortgage-free condo apartment overlooking the ocean and still maximizes his annual retirement savings contribution. He was able to accomplish all of this through visualizations and a simple, but very effective, realignment in his normal spending and savings habits.

There is nothing Anthony did that you could not do with the same expectation of success. To prepare yourself for victory, you need to apply this approach to changes you want to make in your personal and business life, knowing that if you put effort into it, you are going to be successful.