Every important endeavor ever undertaken by successful men and women has begun with a definite goal in mind.

This goal should be concrete and well-defined and put down on paper. This is the first step in your design for wealth. Then, there should be a time period associated with this goal. Following this, decide what are you willing to put in to achieve this goal - your time, energy, capital? Now, develop a concrete plan, down to the details for achieving this goal. Finally, work this plan that is designed for wealth. This formula has been known to bring success again and again, without fail, for individual after individual. From small to the largest undertakings - these steps have a way of activating your complete resourcefulness and help you achieve your target goal. Even as you progess in this pathway, luck seems to smile on you - it is as if the world was waiting expectantly for you to "get serious".

Let us pick an example to illustrate this : assume that you wish to develop $2 million in 10 years.

Your current personal balance sheet indicates a value of $10,000, and an income of $50,000/year. You realize clearly that you will have to radically increase your income and potentially your savings rate to get to that goal. Additionally, you realize you would need to invest smartly through real estate or through stocks and options (or both). You may choose also to develop an extra income business that expands to generate the income you need and develop a rapidly growing equity in your business.

As you may have noticed already, the more techniques that are at your disposal for generating wealth, the faster you will get to your goal - this is one of the reasons the rich get richer - they are in tune with more techniques than the average person. Back to the plan.

As part of your plan, let us say you decide to:

• Set up an Extra Income Business where you teach a computer course in Excel and Access, planning on generating $35,000/year income
  
• Use Investment Newsletters to bump up your investment returns to 20%+ returns
  
• Develop your career and begin earning $70,000+

Now you break down your plan and figure that you can get to these income levels and investment returns in 3 years from now. Thus, in Year 3 you will have:

Extra Income Business is generating: $35000

Career Income: $70,000

Investment Return: 20%

Savings per Year: $35,000 (30%+ of gross income)

In seven years from this point - that is, ten years from your start, you will have about $650,000. A great sum, but nowhere near $2 million. You will need to continue at this pace for another five years to hit the $ 2 million mark. Thus 15 years from the start, following this plan to the hilt, you know you can get to $2 million (not including any equity in your business).

The above is a plan. You have a goal, you develop a plan and stick to it, and you know exactly when you will hit your target. Of course you planned to hit your goal in 10 years- but instead you will get there in 15 - which only shows that your plan needs some tweaks.

But at least you have a clear roadmap and know where and how you are going.

Every part of the above plan will have to be worked through, developing the details of for example - how to generate a net-income of $35,000 from your extra income business or how to raise your career income to $70,000. 

This plan also helps you realize that your business offers you the opportunity to tweak and expand your income. Importantly, your business can be leveraged - for the effort in teaching 15 students versus 10 students is only marginally higher. Moreover, if you develop a special DVD of your course-work, you could sell that at a low additional price to your students for their ready reference. You could also sell this DVD elsewhere in the market (though your students will be your most ready made customers!). In other words, you can find ways to bump up your income from business to $45,000/year.

Adding this $10,000 to your income, of which at least $7000 should drop to your savings, and keeping other things constant- will help you reach the $2 million mark in 14 years since you started, shaving one year off of your total.

Increasing your investment returns with leverage through margins, working with options, or by real estate investing can further add to your overall net-worth, bringing the $2 million mark much faster. Clearly, the more aggressive your goals, the more knowledgeable you will need to be about wealth creation strategies.

Having a design for developing wealth, with a detailed plan will clearly indicate:

• Areas that need upfront work before they will yield results to you (put money in your pocket)
  
• New techniques that may need to be developed to yield better returns
  
• Time and effort involved and whether you will be able to pay the price required?

A design for wealth is your blueprint for success. Never start without it!