A Heart 4 Business: Let’s write a swimming pool! Dan Miller

Paul McCartney once said to John Lennon before writing a new song: “Let’s write a swimming pool!” What he meant is that as talented song artists they could decide in advance to easily generate enough money to build a swimming pool, buy a car, take a dream vacation, or pretty much anything else they wanted.

Does your talent translate into tangible things you’d like to have or give, or is there little connection between working, getting a paycheck and simply making a living? Do you see that new car, a family cruise or a swimming pool when you begin a project that uses your best skills?

Nick Pavlidis just wrote an important little book – Confessions of a Terrible Husband. It’s his story of working to become a husband that wives dream of. And guess what, the financial rewards will allow him to do some other cool things for his family. Emily Chase Smith is helping other entrepreneurs write their stories. She has 13 projects in process right now – but is currently in Spain taking a week-long class in Flamenco dancing (a lifelong dream).

I suspect it would help us frame our work if we were better able to “see” what that work was leading to. What if you sat down with a blank canvas and visualized an elegant European trip or building a school in Uganda, or being the total sponsor for a Habitat for Humanity house like my publisher friend David Hancock does. (Morgan James Publishing)

Paychecks that are deposited directly into our checking accounts where bills are paid automatically somehow lose their tangible connection to anything. I think that in our “paperless” culture perhaps we’ve lost the connection between writing well and a swimming pool. That’s why Dave Ramsey encourages us all to use “cash” when making purchases. It feels different than just swiping a card or even writing a check. To this day I still pay for cars with cash – I want the visceral connection between working hard and then giving up that stack of $100 bills for a chunk of metal and plastic.

Yeah we’ve all heard about “singing for your supper.” But that’s not a real connection for most of us. So what are you going to write, draw, hammer, sing, bake, build, mow, blog or talk for today? Connecting today’s activities with the image of a clear goal will help draw out your highest talents and skills.

Want a new swimming pool? A new car, a special vacation, or a newly remodeled kitchen? What work can you do that will lead directly to that?

If you want to use writing as your key tool – here’s a 48 step checklist to make your book produce a swimming pool – or something fitting your dream.