As simple as this question sounds, many of us do not have an idea of what we really want. At age 35, I had no clue. At age 40, I was beginning to have an idea, but I was all over the place. I was not sure. Now 6 years later, I am crystal clear what I really want. It might change later, but for now, I am not double minded. If you wake me up 2am in the morning and ask me what I want, I will tell you without blinking. I am tempted to tag the 15 plus years I wandered in cluelessness and financial wilderness – the wasted years. I have come to realize that they are not indeed wasted. Who I am today and the passion I feel about this subject is as a result of the pain of those years of going round in circles. I feel I have a duty to warn others that we do not have to wander 40 years (age 20 – 60) in the financial wilderness. There is a better and shorter route to our promised land instead of the traditional aimless wandering, retiring poor and wondering what our life is about. You may have noticed that a disproportionate number of retirees die within 10 years of retirement. Without a job, they start to wonder what is there to live for. Their job was their life, literally.

One amazing thing I have discovered is that when you know what you really want, you start to move towards it – often unconsciously. Scientists, psychologists, motivational speakers and folks in the personal development industry have all come to one conclusion – we move in the direction of our expectations. It should not be amazing, because the Bible stated clearly that the expectations of the righteous shall not be cut off (Proverbs 23:18, 24:14). If you aim for nothing, you will achieve it. If you are going nowhere, you will get there surely. If you don’t know what you want, you will have no clue what you will get.

When it comes to personal finances (as in other areas of our lives), we need clear unambiguous goals. It has to be explicit. You have to know what you really want, and why. How do you know when you get there, if you don’t know what you really want?

How do you see yourself in the next 5, 10, 15, 20years? Which city do you want to be living in? What kind of house do you want to live in? Do you have a clear picture? What type of car do you want to ride in? What income do you want to earn per month, per year? What will you do with the money? Which lives do you want to impact? What problem do you want to solve? How will the world become better because you achieved your goals and dreams? What impact do you want to make? How do you want to be remembered? What do you want written on your tombstone? At what age do you want to take a bow? How do you want to be at that age? – Bedridden? Using a walking stick? Overweight? Fit and agile? What do you really want?

God has given us the awesome power of imagination to create the future we desire. We have the power of memory to replay the past, and imagination to pre-play the future. Only humans have this ability. What are we using our imagination for? To imagine vain things?

We can literally use our imagination the way children use Lego blocks to create things – to create a compelling future, the future of our dreams. We have the power to declare things, and they will come to pass. We have the power to plan and get to work. We have the power to focus and persevere in the face of adverse circumstances. We have the power to rise up each time we fall. What more do we want?

What is your dream?

What are your goals?

What do you really want?

God has given us a blank cheque to write what we really want, what have we written?

What have we done with our power to choose?

After all is said and done, the expectations of the righteous, whatever that is, will surely come to pass. It will become a self fulfilling prophecy.

-Usiere Uko is editor of www.financialfreedominspiration.com  and author of Practical Steps to Financial Freedom and Independence – www.amazon.com/Practical-Steps-Financial-Freedom-Independence/dp/147006832X .