Book of the Month - The Alchemist

The Alchemist, By Paulo Coelho, is about a Shepherd Boy named Santiago who one day decided to follow his dream. Not just a dream of what he wants to become, like becoming an astronaut or fireman, but an actual dream he received in his sleep. In this dream a young child led him to the Pyramids of Egypt, and was in the process of taking him to the location of a treasure. Santiago received this same dream twice, and each time he woke up before finding the treasure! With this dream and his love of traveling as a shepherd, he decided to take a chance and go after his "Personal Legend". A Personal Legend is something you have always wanted to accomplish, even as a child! Ironically, the Pyramids of Egypt was one of the first places I wanted to visit as a child, so I was reeled in immediately.

Les Anderson

Throughout the story Santiago meets many new characters, all of which give him advice and suggestions on how he should or should not approach his dream, and live his life. However, one of the main driving forces was his dream! No matter what others may have told him, whether positive or negative, the dream and his focus on achieving the dream, kept him on track.

"When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it."

This quote is very important when discussing pursuing any goal. Once you set out to do something, you begin to notice how many things relate to what you are attempting to achieve. It’s like when you start to notice a particular car that you are interested in purchasing, or that you already own. Suddenly, everywhere you go you begin to see that same car. More than likely this car didn’t suddenly become popular at the same moment. However, your mind now notices the car, and it stands out to you. Even in conversations you have, you all of a sudden start to discuss car loans and the best rates that banks are providing. You may not have paid as much attention to these conversations previously. It’s like the universe is torturing you…or leading you towards what you want to complete!

"When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision."

​So from here on out, it’s up to you to make the decision to achieve that goal. What if your goal is to go see the Pyramids of Egypt as well? What steps could you take to complete this goal? There’s a difference between stating you “want” or “would like to” or “I wish I could” do something, versus making a deCISion to do it. The root word CIS (also CID) means “to cut” or “to kill”. Other words with the root CIS: incision, scissors, concise, homicide, genocide, pesticide etc… So, when you make a decision, you are cutting off or killing other choices in order to focus on the decision you made. How does this relate to Personal Finance? Well if you want to take a trip to Egypt, it’s not cheap and it will take some time! You may have to save extra money, take time off from work, or who knows what else depending on your situation. If you already have the money saved to go, then you are “cutting” away at your current savings in order to pay for your trip! Santiago decided to sell his sheep in order to have money to start his journey!

​Maybe your decision is to change jobs, start a business, read more, spend time with your family, or all of the above. Either way you will need to decide what to kill/cut away in order to pursue what you want. The amount of available time in a day does not change, no matter who you are. Everyone has 24 hours in a day to make something happen! Even if your schedule is “empty”, adding something to your schedule means you’re cutting into your time to sleep, day-dream, lollygag, or to spend time on social media. 

"There is only one way to learn, and that's through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey."
"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself."
"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."

Failure is only temporary. Failure does not consume you. Anyone at the top of their field can tell you 100s of things they’ve failed at in their life. The only difference is they either kept pushing towards the one goal, or they kept trying new things while using their old experience to guide them on the new endeavor. Failure is one of the best teachers. We learn better from our failures than we do from our success, as long as we are willing to try again! Don’t quit on your future!

"That's what Alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."
"When you possess great treasures within you, and you try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed."

​Don’t allow others to discourage you from your dream! They may have similar dreams which they did not take action on, or may not personally know of a person living their dream that they can look towards as an example. Become the Alchemist of your family or cohort of friends! Your success may be the motivation they needed to pursue their goals and dreams. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else can you count on to believe in you? Get out and obtain your “Personal Legend”!
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Thanks for reading and Subscribing to the Share Repurchase Blog! What is your own Personal Legend? Are you in the process of achieving it? Have you given up? What are you willing to sacrifice to follow your dream? Let us know in the comments section!

If you are interested in purchasing this book, click on the photo of the book above to purchase through Amazon, or get a free Audiobook version!