Do you remember the movie ‘Sliding Doors’?

Sliding Doors was a fun romantic comedy in the nineties about how there are forks at every point in the road that can lead us to completely different outcomes. Real life is also a continuous series of ‘sliding doors’ that can lead us to completely different outcomes.

If you reflect on where you are now in your life financially, and imagine where you might like to be in say 10-15 years, you may consider a few possible outcomes:

1. Firstly, you might imagine a future that looks super bright. Where time and money are plentiful and you are well above average wealth standards. You have maximised the premium income you have had over time by building beautiful pipelines that bring you
income. You work from time to time because you like to, but in general you enjoy your time following your passions.

2. You might also imagine a future that looks a little less bright, where perhaps you are moderately comfortable and slightly
above average in your wealth position. You have tried to put aside energy towards building your pipeline, but on the whole, you have minimised your effort and taken the conventional path. Your primary focus over time has been on growing your bucket.
Unfortunately, you have been unable to reduce the pressure of your workload and the idea of an early retirement seems unlikely.

3. Imagine a future where things are a bit skinny. You can make ends meet, but you have had to let go of most of the luxuries you
had hoped to enjoy. There had been little emphasis on building any kind of pipeline, but it feels too late now to roll up your
sleeves and start now. When you think of retirement, it seems to still be some way off. It’s not ideal, but you recognise you need
to soldier on.

4. Things are in a really depressing state. You are looking down the barrel of a shortfall in lifestyle when you stop working. You
anticipate working at a time when others have long since retired. Your family might be thinking about how they might have to
support you in the future.

Which of these scenarios seems most likely to you right now? Which one would you like it to be?

The good news is that the jump from one possible future to another is a small tweak to the ‘doors’ you slide open right now. It’s about committing the time and resources to building your pipeline now.

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