What Should You Do When Your Dreams Are bigger Than Your Resources?

What Should You Do When Your Dreams Are bigger Than Your Resources?

by Bo Sanchez

Are your dreams bigger than your resources? Do you dream of buying a car? But your resources can only buy a skateboard? Do you dream of going to San Francisco? But your resources can only bring you to San Francisco, Del Monte? Do you dream of becoming an NBA player? But you’re a short guy.

Your resources can only make you a NJA player (The National Jackstone Association). When your dream is bigger than your resources, you have two options…

Option 1: You could adjust your dream to match your resources.

Option 2: You could adjust your resources to match your dream.

How will you know which option to choose?

The “Be poor, be small, be quiet, don’t-be-seen-or-heard, be humble” preachers will tell you to ALWAYS choose Option 1. “Lower your dreams!” they will tell you, “Shucks, don’t even dream! Just accept what happens as your fate.”

On the other extreme, the Positive Thinking movement, Prosperity Gospel preachers, and Ra-ra-ra motivational speakers will tell you to ALWAYS choose Option 2. “Don’t ever lower your dreams! Go for it!”

You probably think that I lean towards this, and you’re absolutely right, but I balance this emphasis with a huge dose of DISCERNMENT. This is the key to know which option to choose. After years of working on my dreams, I’ve noticed that my dreams can come from two sources. They can come from my Purpose. Or they can come from my Pride.

Here’s the deciding issue: If my dream comes from Pride, I take Option 1—I adjust my dream to match my resources; if my dream comes from my purpose, I take Option 2—I adjust my resources to match my dream.

Let me explain… 

1. If Your Dream Comes from Pride

One day, I was with a friend. I was shocked to find out he wanted to buy a P12 million condo. “But you already own a nice condo…” I told him. It was true. He was living in a lovely 2 bedroom condo worth P4.5 million.

Like everyone else, he was paying the monthly amortization, sometimes with great difficulty. “Yes, it’s nice. But I want something bigger.” “But can you afford the monthly payments?” I asked.

“Well… uh, right now, it’s gonna be a stretch,” he said, “But I know myself. I work best under pressure. I don’t work as hard unless I’ve got big debts hanging over my head like a giant axe, ready to slice off my head. I know that if I buy that P12 million condo, it’ll pressure me to find a way to increase my income. Besides, isn’t this what you teach? That God will provide?”

I cringed when I heard him say, “God will provide”. Let me tell you why: Because I knew the man in front of me. I knew his story. I knew that he was under a mountain of debt that he hasn’t been able to pay on time. Collectors were hounding him. I also knew that this desperate need for expensive trappings was only an anesthesia for a deep childhood wound. He wants the symbols of big success on the outside because he feels like a big failure on the inside.

I knew that if there’s one thing that God wants to provide him, it wasn’t material things but inner healing…

My Beautiful Little Palace

Please don’t get me wrong. God wants us to have some material things. Let me shock you: I believe God provides for our needs and, surprisingly, even for our “silly” wants. It’s okay to have wants.

It’s okay to dream for better stuff. But always ask yourself, “Where does this dream come from? Does it come from pride or purpose?”

To this day, my wife and I live in a tiny house. And we love it. My favorite mother-in-law gave us an 80-square-meter property in the same subdivision where they lived. (I’m sure it was given with ulterior motives, so that they could see their future grandchildren regularly. We’re not complaining. We love the fact that our kids can see their grandparents every day.)

We had very little money then but we were able to borrow some money from that same favorite mother-in-law. And we were able to eke out the rest of the amount needed to build the house. Month after month, God provided. And after one long year (that’s what happens when you have very little money), we finished building our small house for P1.2 million.

Today, after 14 years of working on my small businesses, I now have some money. After much failures, I’ve been tasting success. Recently, my wife and I felt an itch. Have you noticed? When you have money, it’s hot in your hands. You want to spend it. (That’s why I strongly suggest you learn the two habits of tithing and investing—so you get it out of your hands.) My wife and I looked around at our old house and we wanted to live in a better house.

Like the ones we saw in thick design and architectural magazines. With the pictures of gigantic houses that make you drool over their glossy pages. We felt the temptation to climb up. To move higher. After all, we had some money. Was it time to move to a nice subdivision and build a P20 million or P30 million house? Our friends were doing it.

But that would mean getting into debt and paying through our nose. So we asked ourselves, “Where did that dream come from? Did it come from pride or purpose?”

After discerning, my wife and I decided to lower our dream to match our resources. So instead of buying a new house worth P20 million, we got a great interior designer and renovated our old house. How much did we spend? P1 million. Today, our house is very pretty. It’s still small. Because we adjusted our dream to match our resources, and we incurred no debt.

We can sleep at night like a babe snuggled in her mother’s arms. And we’re able to give so much more to ministry. And we’re able to invest our money and make it grow even more.

It’s the same story with my car… 

My Luxury Car

luxury car

I had a dream of owning a luxury car. I wanted a smoother ride so I could work at the backseat of the car—while my driver maneuvered the traffic. (People wonder why I’m able to churn out books and articles like a machine; one of my little secrets: I write on my laptop during traffic.)

I must admit, this luxury car thing wasn’t a need. It was a want. But as I said, I believe that God is such a good God, He provides for our silly wants. At about that same time, my friend bought a brand new luxury European car worth P8 million. When we met, he told me, “You should buy one too, Bo. It has the perfect ride.”

I smiled. I realized I could—if I really wanted to. But I was much wiser than this. As my friend Junie says, it’s enough satisfaction for me that I can look at a really expensive brand new car, slide my finger over its hood and feel how shiny and smooth it is, and say with a shrug, “I can buy this… but I won’t.”

Instead, I searched the internet for a second-hand luxury car. Not European, but Japanese. And I found one. It was four years old. Total Cost? P600,000. I visited it, took it for a spin, and loved the ride. I wrote a check and drove it home, the proud owner of a luxury car.

Sure, my friend’s brand new car will get more glances wherever he goes. More oohs and ahhs. (Something I’m totally not looking for—I just wanted the smoother ride.)

But here’s the difference. My friend today is swimming in an ocean of debt. He’ll be paddling water for five years. Me? I own my car free without a single worry. (I realize I have enough stress from my businesses and ministries. I don’t need to add to it.)

After more than a year, I’m still using my luxury car and loving every minute of it. Because luxury cars last longer, I plan to use it for many more years. Heck, I realized I’m saving money. What did I do? I adjusted my dream to match my resources. But friend, it’s very different when your dream comes from your purpose… 

2. If Your Dream Comes from Purpose

If you know that your dream comes from a God-ordained, God crafted, and God-empowered purpose, then pursue it with all your heart—even if you know your resources are lacking. Five years ago, we dreamt of holding the Feast in PICC. I saw this in my mind. I imagined it. I prayed for it. But believe me, the dream was bigger than our resources.

At that time, we only had one Feast, and it was in Valle Verde. The weekly rent was P75,000. All of a sudden, if we moved to PICC, the weekly rent would jump to P250,000. Where in the world will we get the money? Not only that, I wanted to retain a Feast in Valle Verde. So we’d still be paying the P75,000 rent in Valle Verde PLUS the P250,000 in PICC.

To complicate the problem, we also wanted to build Feasts all over the world—and that needed a lot of money too. In that year alone, we wanted to build Feasts in Makati and Quezon City and Rizal and Alabang and Bulacan… etcetera!

I searched my heart and asked myself the hard question, “Does this dream—of holding a Feast in PICC—come from pride or purpose?”

After all, PICC was one of the best convention centers in the country. Really classy. But something in me was telling me that it wasn’t a matter of pride. PICC was perfect for the target market we wanted to reach for God.

Yes, our dream was bigger than our resources. But because our dream came from purpose, we didn’t adjust our dream to match our resources, instead, we adjusted our resources to match our dream.

And the rest is history. We’ve been holding the Feast in PICC for almost three years now. Because of our multiple sessions, this coming year, we’ll be spending P750,000 each week to make it happen. Not only that, we’ve also built 123 Feasts all over the world. Not only that, we’ve also partnered with 10 ministries for the poorest of the poor—and they suck money like crazy too. But God provides for His work. 

A Son’s Dream

My sister has an only child—Joseph. One day, Joseph announced to his parents, “I want to be a chef!” His parents felt like they were hit by a wrecking ball.

chef

Because they know culinary schools were expensive. True enough, the specific culinary school Joseph wanted to attend would cost P500,000 a year. The dream was bigger than their resources.

Using my terminology today, they asked themselves, “Do we adjust the dream to match our resources? Or do we adjust our resources to match our son’s dream?” After praying hard about it, his parents decided to go for Joseph’s dream. My brother-inlaw worked like crazy, accepting two teaching jobs, just to raise the money. My sister worked in her businesses too and made them flourish.

For four years, they labored, praying, working, and praying some more. Today, four years later, Joseph has finished his culinary course. And two months ago, Joseph flew to France to get more training as a chef. The big dream has come true. Let me say it again: When your dream is bigger than your resources, and you believe your dream comes from purpose, don’t decrease your dream to match your resources, but increase your resources to match your dream.

Source: Wrote by Bo Sanchez, TrulyRichClub, Wealthstrategy