Have you ever heard the statement, "Go with the flow"? I was in Germany recently and had the opportunity to spend some time with Mariana Hilker, one of our precious clients. She is a college student from Finland, and she has been faithfully attending First Steps To Success and Creating A Dynasty for about 3 years.

One thing I love about Europeans is that they travel a lot. They see the world as their playground, and they want to explore and uncover as much as they possibly can. I’ve learned a lot from their example. So often, Americans never even leave their city or state, much less their country. They never go out and experience other cultures, other foods, other languages, other ways of life. And when they do travel, they typically don’t venture outside of the resort where they’re staying, so they don’t get to experience everything other parts of the world have to offer.

Mariana was telling me about a trip she took to Thailand and Indonesia, and she said something really profound. She told me some of her college friends say, "I don’t really have any plans for the future. I just want to go with the flow and see how things unfold." Mariana just says, "Really?!? Seriously? That’s the dumbest thing you could ever do!"

When Mariana was in Indonesia, she was sitting there watching the flow of the trash in the ocean. As she watched the flow, she noticed the trash always ends up in trashier places. Isn’t that so true about life?

People who just go with the flow often end up in trashy situations. And that’s what most people are doing in life. A couple decides to get married and have kids, and they just hope for the best. But the best doesn’t always happen for their children. An employee just hopes to get promoted in his or her job. A business owner hopes to become a millionaire someday. But those things don’t just happen.

If you want success, you have to plan for it. You must learn new skills and make it happen. You can’t just go with the flow and say, "Whatever happens, happens."

What is "the flow"? Look at what everyone else is doing. The truth is, 98% of the population ends up dead or dead broke by the age of 65, dependent on their family, friends or the federal government as their main source of income. They are going with the flow.

We were all told the same thing — go to school, get good grades, go to college and get a good job. That’s going with the flow, but that’s not how the successful people in the world do it. In fact, they go against the flow. I’m not saying they don’t go to school and get good grades. But they get specialized knowledge in a very different way.

Hans and I just came out of a conference with some extremely successful families. (I mean extremely successful — hundreds of millions of dollars in generational wealth.) Each of these highly successful people we met said the same thing about college: It’s not a good investment right now.

You would never hear that from the "wanna-be" successful people — the ones who make 6 figures and have a big house, a couple of leased cars and lots of credit cards. They would tell you something totally different about what it takes to succeed. They are the ones saying, "Go to college, get a good job and you will be successful." But many of them have racked up tons of debt because they have gone with the flow.

Don’t get me wrong… Not all millionaires are truly successful. Just because you make a million doesn’t mean you’re successful. Most people who make a million dollars actually lose it or spend it.

I’m talking about people who have a long-standing track record of success — people with generational wealth and good families who work through their problems in their finances, businesses and relationships. People who know how to make money, keep money, and turn money into their slave. They have a completely different way of living and thinking about money.

In fact, you’ll never guess what these people said: The exact same thing I talk about in Grooming the Next Generation for Success. They had no TV when they were growing up. One of them had no air conditioning or heating in the house. If they were cold, they built a fire. They were frugal, they worked hard, they did things together as a family. They did not go with the flow. In fact, it was the opposite — they were trained up to be successful in every area of their lives.

Going with the flow is the worst thing you can do. When you listen to the people around you whose plan is to just go with the flow, you will end up where they end up, and that’s not a pretty place.

They say, "Oh, it’ll work itself out." Instead of making plans, they wait to be led down one path or another. But you have to understand that is not going to give you the life you desire.

If you want a great marriage, you must set some goals and learn the right skills to make it happen. If you want to have phenomenal children who are great leaders and who have great people skills, financial skills, and will truly succeed in life, that will not happen if you simply go with the flow. It’s the same with your finances, business and career.

If you go with the flow, it will not lead you where you want to go. Do not let that be you! Go against the flow. Get equipped with the skills to lead you to the kind of success you want. The great thing about our clients here at DaniJohnson.com is that it’s an entire community who is going against the flow. And there is such an incredible strength in those numbers! You are not swimming upstream alone.

I am so excited for you, because you are one who will go farther, run faster, jump higher and achieve more than the ones who are just going with the flow. And I can’t wait to celebrate your success with you! I’d love to know what your goals are and how you are going against the flow and setting yourself up for success. Please leave your comments for me here!

And like I said before, there is incredible strength in numbers. So pass this message along to your friends, family and co-workers today! Also, join me live this Sunday night for The Dani Johnson Show! Tune in on your TV and radio at 9 pm ET/8 pm CT.

In great faith,

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