Predicting Your Future: How to Dictate Your Destiny

Would you like to know your future? Would you like to know where you'll be 10, 15, or even 20 years from now?nnYou don't need a crystal ball, Tarot cards, or a horoscope. You can create your own destiny, starting right now, by seizing control of three key areas of your life.nnThe process starts with a decision, an unshakable promise to yourself that your life is going to change. No longer will you be helplessly buffeted by circumstances. You have to be fed up enough with the way things have been going to mean business, because without a no-retreat commitment, this strategy won't work.nnEducation: The first keynnUnderstand that when you graduate from high school or college, that's when your real education begins. nnSuper-successful people know more. That's their edge. They undertake a program of lifelong learning, feeding a hunger for knowledge in their field that keeps them reading, researching and studying to become an absolute master at what they do.nnDon't fall for the misbelief that learning is boring. Far from it! When you have a passion for learning about a subject, it drives you to discover something new about it every day.nnThe most exciting aspect of this kind of learning is your laser focus. You're done with useless, time-wasting courses. Homing in on specifics is the most efficient way to learn. You make the best use of your time, and piece by piece the puzzle starts to make sense.nnToday there are more ways to learn than ever. You can take night classes, college extension courses, even online degree programs. Of course there's the public library, which can also order specialized books for you from any library in the country. On the Internet, you can find web pages, user groups, discussion forums, professional associations, and newsletters to bring you a mountain of useful information.nnWhen you become an expert in your field--whatever that may be--you increase your moneymaking opportunities and your worth to businesses and other people.nnThe more you develop your expertise, the less vulnerable you are to layoffs, outsourcing, and other hazards of the workplace. By cultivating knowledge to increase your earning power, you take a giant step toward dictating your own destiny.nnFinances: The second keynnIf you don't control your finances, they'll control you. The younger you start, the better. The first step is eliminating all debt from your life. You may need to go to a professional debt counselor to do this, but you'll be glad you did. Being in debt limits your choices, and that derails your destiny.nnAgain, you need to be tough and make hard changes. This is something you're doing for you and your future. You'll have to learn to eliminate "anesthetic purchases," those impulse buys of stuff you don't need, in an attempt to make yourself feel better. It's never really worked anyway, so you need to stop it. nnThat's tough to accomplish, but if you live up to your promise, you can do this. Keep telling yourself that you want to be in charge of your future, not some finance company.nnGetting an experienced, competent financial adviser is the next step. It's a myth that you have to be rich to have a financial adviser. A good financial adviser's job is to make you rich.nnYour financial adviser will help you look into your future. He or she will make long-term investments with your money. This isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. This is a time-proven way to make you a wealthy person, and if you haven't guessed by now, wealth gives you more choices in life. It's another crucial factor in dictating your own destiny.nnFaith: The third keynnA big part of dictating your own destiny is staying out of trouble. Obviously, some problems are unavoidable, but many we bring on ourselves. Do you think anyone who is in prison wants to be there? Are they in control of their future, or is someone else? Almost all of them could have avoided years of misery by observing just a handful of simple rules. They're called the Ten Commandments.nnAre you still with me? Because many people aren't serious enough about success to realize that faith in God is absolutely necessary to it. Do you think this is an absolutely distasteful, unacceptable price to pay to predict your own future? Or are you willing to read to the end of this article?nnGood. In my 55 years, I've seen firsthand that Christians have a secret advantage that nonbelievers don't: God's help. It's not my intention here to convert you, just to give you three keys to controlling your future. You can accept this third key or you can reject it.nnBut a life without God, however successful, rings hollow. It's method without meaning. And you've missed the biggest opportunity of all: the ability to control your future in the next life. That's at least worth considering over the next weeks and months, isn't it?nnHow to startnnYou absolutely cannot predict your own future until you start taking personal responsibility for your life. No more excuses. No more blaming it on anybody or anything else.nnOnce you do start taking responsibility, you'll be surprised by the rewards. You'll see the inescapable law of cause and effect in action. Do the right thing, reap the reward. Do nothing, get nothing.nnNobody ever said success is simple or that there's no sacrifice involved. But dictating your destiny is not impossible. You know what you need to do. Why not start today? n