August 2nd,  2024  [3 min. read]

By Drew W. Boyer, CFP®

Sometime after college, when I was struggling to figure out the real world and make a living for myself, my mom gifted me a small figurine with two words inscribed on it.

Now, this was after I had been gifted a ‘you owe us’ loan statement, post-graduation to pay back all the money I had borrowed in college to get by. Most of that bill was for a truck to get back and forth to work. I’ve always held a job since age 16, so working during school was a foregone conclusion.  They did, so I did. The result? I only left college with a debt of less than $25,000. 

Compared to the horror stories today, I consider myself fortunate to have been:

a.    taught how to work hard, and 
b.    paid off all my bad debt.

There weren’t finisher medals handled out at home. We didn’t watch much TV or movies. Our vacations were road trips every other year. Every weekend we worked with our dad tending our fruit and vegetable farm. We were modeled on how to work for ourselves and take care of ourselves.

What wasn’t modeled was the how. We had to find that answer for ourselves. My answer was found on that small figurine:

A small bunny holding a big carrot with the two words: ‘Dream Big’.

As a middle child, I didn’t waste time reading instruction manuals. I learned by doing and experiencing life, so those two words taught me to aim high and just try.

•    Build a business from scratch.
•    Overcome the worst financial crisis of my life.
•    Run half marathons.
•    Have a year of saying ‘yes’ to life.
•    Pay off all my bad debt.
•    Travel outside my bubble to lands I never imagined I’d make it to.
•    Try to learn another language and culture.
•    Buy a house.
•    Become a husband and father?
•    Make sure we visit all of our family every year, everywhere?
•    Go back to school at age 40?
•    Buy a rental property?
•    Open my own office?
•    Invest in ski vacations with my family and fishing vacations with my dad?  

And now…

•    Write a book. Why not?

You can do anything you want if you dream it and then do it. 

Every morning, next to my coffee machine on a shelf, sits that little bunny with a big carrot, staring right at me that says, ‘Dream Big.’ I doubt my mom ever thought that a small gift with the big message would become the only motivation I needed in life, but it’s always inspired me to dream bigger.  To do my best, make every day count, and always challenge myself outside my comfort zones.

What do you have that stares back and motivates you each morning? 

It’s the best gift you can receive or give.