Dreams, Goals and Adventure is a series of personal stories, the ups and downs of someone who inspires to reach all of the dreams set forth and how sometime a life event creates a situation requiring a major adjustment. It is stories others will be able to relate to with the life adventures each and every one of them have experienced, both good and challenging
◊ DREAMS, GOALS AND ADVENTURE by Michael D. Ditton
◊ Paperback: 148 pages
◊ Genre: Self-Help, Motivational
◊ Publisher: BalboaPress (October 19, 2015)
◊ Language: English
◊ ISBN-10: 1504335880
◊ ISBN-13: 978-1504335881
From broke to retired in ten years . . .
Returning home from Desert Storm, I found myself mentally and financially bankrupt. Newly divorced, I had no job, no help, and no hope. My reasons to live were gone. At the lowest point in my life, I fell back on simple truths from my childhood: hard work gets results, and it's okay to dream. And dream I did, setting goals that launched me from poverty to a life I could not have imagined. And you can do it, too.
Dreams, Goals, and Adventure will inspire you to dream big, work toward your goals, and live your life as an adventure every day.
* Don't be afraid to dream.
* Don't accept “no” as an answer.
* Remove “can't” from your vocabulary.
* Small goals are stepping stones to much larger goals.
* Learn how to spring forward from failure.
* Know you will have to adjust.
* Live life as an adventure.
"Your experiences are so extra-ordinary and you're fascinating
to listen to. Your speaking style is humble and respectful of both your role as a speaker and of your audience, as one would expect after hearing of what you were trained to do. If others would open their lives to adventure as you have they would love their life even more." ~Jim Cathcart, author of the bestsellers: The Acorn Principle and Relationship Selling. CEO of Cathcart.com
Michael Ditton is an entrepreneur, personal development coach, and student of life. In addition to helping others realize their dreams, he can be found sailing or traveling in search of new adventures.
“When met by unexpected challenges, embrace them wholeheartedly as opportunities for adventure and education.”
I developed Goal-Setting Basics to help others interested in learning how to set goals. In my twenties, I had to gather these valuable bits of information a piece at a time. This site offers you an array of information, tools, and resources to help you in identifying, setting, and accomplishing your goals, whatever they might be. In these tools are free worksheets and examples to help you succeed. You will find Goal-Setting Basics is your single source for all of your goal-setting needs.
“Financial Independence means having control over your time
without worrying about the ability to pay your bills” … So many think they have to be as wealthy as Bill Gates to live a rich life, that is so far from the truth … Let me show you how.
Chapter Four
Uncle Sam Says, “I Want You.”
I would soon find out that sometimes when we have no plan, the plan finds us. In the early 1980s, while in St. Joseph, Missouri, I met a friend of a friend who was in the military. The more I learned about what the service had to offer the more intrigued I became. Curiosity turned into enthusiasm, and I decided to enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces. It would turn into a twenty-year commitment.
I signed up on a delayed entry program, which gave me a nearly a year before I had to report. And while my recruiter was in the Midwest, my MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) was in Los Angeles which meant I would also have the chance to catch up with family and friends.
I made my way to California and headed straight to Newport Beach. A friend of mine lived by the beach, and for the next few months I crashed on his couch and generally lived the life of a beach bum. To pay for my day-to-day expenses, mostly food and booze, I hired on with a Mail Boxes Etc. type store. My job basically consisted of adding stencils, like Post-it notes, to
computer forms, which left me plenty of time for life’s more enjoyable pursuits. When I wasn’t partying in the L.A. nightclubs, where my friend’s band played, I sat on the beach or surfed.
Life was good, but after I while I headed to Santa Barbara where my mother still lived. I was delighted to spend time with her, but determined to maintain my independence. With her consent I converted the garage into my own little apartment. My mom placed only one condition on my homecoming. It had always bothered her that I’d quit school in tenth grade, when she and my father separated, and didn’t have a high school diploma.
She asked that I return to school until I had to report for military duty. I agreed, with some reluctance, to re-enter the public school system.
I was a dreamer from an early age. To this day I believe anyone can do whatever they choose to put their mind to.
I didn’t go from eight years old to semi-retired in the length of one sentence. Nor was it easy. But I did follow a simple, time-honored process.
I was in my twenties before I fully understood the true importance of goal setting. After that, I was able to be more focused, see where I wanted to be, how I was going to get there, notice when I needed to make adjustments, and had the satisfaction of reaching goals. I enjoyed the benefits of reaching a goal and putting a big, fat check mark on my list.
Here’s how those goals paid off:
At 8, sold vegetables door to door from my little red wagon
Age 13, supervisor, World’s Fare Hamburgers
Age 15, assistant manager trainee, Pizza Hut
Age 16, assistant manager, Round Table Pizza
Age 18, began a 20-year commitment with the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, retiring in 2005 as a staff sergeant and Desert Storm veteran. Over my service career I became a leader and was recognized and awarded for my achievements and outstanding service.
Age 20, found my true calling as a sales professional
Age 31, began a successful career in real estate and real estate investments
Age 36, semi-retired
Age 37, owned and operated several companies
Age 41, semi-retired, sold everything and sailed south on his 45’ sailboat
Although I found success at a very early age, I became painfully aware of how quickly it can all be taken away. In 1991, after I returned from Desert Storm, I found myself bankrupt, mentally, physically and financially and divorced.
It was the lowest point in my life. Four years later, I had clawed my way back to even, and started to build from there. Two years after that, following my roadmap of goals, I reached my first level of financial independence. The rest is history.
For more on Michael, you can connect with him at the following sites:
For those following his tour, Michael is offering a special price on the Kindle eBook format of DREAMS, GOALS, AND ADVENTURE at a reduced cost of just 99 cents! Readers can also get a FREE copy of Michael’s GOAL SETTING BASICS in the eBook format. For one or both of these special offers just CLICK HERE!
Thanks for visiting during Michael’s tour stop. Are you following your dreams?
