Reinvent Yourself

by James Altucher

D) LOOK AT GOALS DIFFERENTLY One time Tony asked people what their goals were. One guy said, “I want to make $1 billion!” At first this would seem like an admirable goal—set it high! There’s that horrible saying, “Shoot for the moon, because even if you miss it you’ll be among the stars.” But Tony said, this guy didn’t really understand his goal. He broke it down. “Why do you want $1 billion?” And the first answer was, “I want my own plane.” Tony told him, “Well a plane costs $100 million and you might only be flying 12 times a year. If you charter a jet for $30,000 an hour then it will take you forever to spend $100 million.” So suddenly the guy didn’t need $1 billion anymore. He needed $900 million. “By the end of that session,” Tony said, “it turns out to achieve the exact lifestyle he thought he needed $1 billion for, he needed $10 million.” This is still a lot of money but this was Tony’s way of bringing the target closer.