Book "Dreams, Goals and Adventures" by Michael Ditton

About the Book: 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.

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 www.goalsettingbasics.com 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.

About the Author: "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, timehonored 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 I 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 my 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 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."

My Review: Truly an inspiration book! The author tells us his story in a very nice path, going from his childhood until his early retirement. And one of the most important lessons we can take from this book is to set goals. Developing a Plan of Work, with tasks you need to fulfill in order to achieve what you want is fundamental so you can do it in a timely fashion way.

The author is a natural storyteller and you will read the book very quickly and will want more and more. Easy reading, it is very well edited and there are no problems with grammar, that usually is the point that bothers me the most. 

I recommend this book for the permanent library of any reader that needs inspiration to turn around your life in a way that you can only dream of. You will not be disappointed.