Kinder’s questions (I hope you did the exercise yourself) are designed to find out the core values and dreams of his clients, which he sees as the first step in helping them come up with a financial plan.

My responses told me two things.

First, if had unlimited money (question #1), I would still do the things I plan to do now, only more extravagantly. Instead of hiking in the Rockies (one of my goals), I might frequent the Alps or Andes.

And second, the things I would miss if I died tonight (question #3) are things on my immediate to-do list—like enjoying friends and family in our new house and writing more blogs and books.

That hasn’t always been the case. There was a time (not that long ago) when dreams for this period of my life were so undefined and faraway as to be unmotivating and unlikely to be realized.

I’m still not sure how that changed, but I know I wouldn’t be where I am now if it hadn’t.

Dreams are powerful things.