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Thank You for taking Time to download our guide!

Dave & Barb

We are so glad you downloaded this guide!

This guide will show you the most powerful steps you can take to double down on your American Dream.

These steps have been used by people across the country as they overcome their own obstacles to personal and professional success. We know they can work for you, too. To be clear, these steps take a lot of work. They will not yield results unless you commit to them.

For support along the way, we offer coaching and mentoring sessions. To learn more about that check this page.

It can be tough to find that inspiration within yourself, to drive forward. We offer plenty of extra inspiration on our podcast and website, where we share stories of people just like you who pushed past all of their own obstacles to achieve extraordinary outcomes. Each of these people has a valuable lesson and plenty of insight, for you to draw from.

By the end of this guide you will have a clear understanding of the steps you can take in your own life, to achieve your American Dream.

Best of all, you will realize you possess everything it takes to live that life you once imagined for yourself, no matter how far from that life you may believe you are.

Yes, there are endless versions of the American Dream. But you are the only one responsible for reaching yours. The struggle can be just as beautiful as the view from the top, and American Snippets is here to help you embrace each step.

We believe the American Dream is both a calling and a duty. We answered that call with hard work and an awareness of our duty to help others do the same.

Now it’s your turn to double down on your own American Dream.

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What is the ‘American Dream’?

At American Snippets we believe this about the American Dream: It is the certainty that anyone, regardless of where they are born or what they are born into, has the ability to create a life of their own design. The American Dream imposes no limits to those committed to its pursuit, and demands that those who achieve it extend themselves to help others do the same. The American dream offers the freedom of choice and the freedom to live in accordance with one’s values.

“Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” - James Truslow Adams, 1931

The American dream is achieved through sacrifice, risk-taking and hard work, not by chance. Every American has the freedom and ability to go after their dreams and create a life by design.

The American Dream is about inspired hope and optimism.

Many people treat life as something that happens to them. They are the victim. When things go wrong, it’s someone else’s fault. When they don’t get promoted, it’s because of the environment. When a project goes haywire, when their team falls short, when the end product doesn’t quite come to fruition, they are never the one to blame.

They live by default, let life happen, give up on their dreams and end up feeling stuck.

And then there are those that walk into any situation and grab it by the horns; They determine the outcome of their day. They wake up with intention.They are crystal clear on what they want and they know what needs to get done. Finally,they accept accountability for the outcome of any effort, and embrace the opportunity to learn from setbacks.

True achievers know that success is a process and are willing to go through that process, knowing that with patience it will culminate into something bigger. These people create the life they want to live, and don’t accept anything less.

So which one are you?

It’s time to get unstuck and crystal clear on what you want for yourself. The tips and steps below will help you define where are you and where you want to go, devise a plan to make it happen and identify the actions you can take to double down on your American Dream.

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1. Start with Semantics... We set goals for ourselves with a positive mindset. We intend to reach them. But if you look a little closer, you’ll recognize how many unrealized goals you have in your life. From New Year’s resolutions to far reaching intentions, how many of us bandy these goals about with little care given to how to reach them?

Let’s look at some common goals frequently heard:

I want to have a million dollars in the bank by the time I’m __ years old.”

I want to lose 20 lbs this year.”

Both goals are admirable and both goals are difficult to achieve. Both require sweat and commitment, and both will present times when you want to quit. Suddenly a million dollars drops to $800,000. Then it drops to $500,000, and so on, as time slips by and you have failed to reach that million dollar mark. Losing twenty pounds seemed like such a great idea, but you’re stuck at 10, and then you put 2 back on, and then you cheat “just once” and then you slip again and a year has gone by and you have missed your goal. The positive mindset is now tainted with pessimism, which leads to apathy and discontent. BUT…

When focus is shifted from goals to outcomes, something huge happens. Losing twenty pounds is a good intent, but what if your focus was instead on feeling better about yourself? Are those twenty pounds the difference between you enjoying activities you can’t now? Or are they simply a symptom of your larger issue - your

10 Steps To Double Down on Your American Dream

health? When you shift your focus to becoming healthy, you take that first step in reaching that outcome. The same can be said about money.

Looking at a goal of making million dollars may be exciting. But why? Is it the money in the bank you want, or is there something you want to do with that money? What does that money mean to you? Do you want to retire? Satiate an expensive appetite? What is it you believe that million dollars will bring you?

Focus on the outcome - “I will be able to spend all the time I want with my family, instead of working for someone else,” or “I will be able to buy that yacht I have always wanted.”

Both examples demonstrate outcomes. They are part of the end result you seek, represented by those goals you set. When things get difficult and you are tempted to give up on your goals, focusing on the outcome can be a critical boost to your commitment. Once you have ditched the goal and moved on to outcomes, you are ready for the next step.

2. Get Specific about your outcome...You must be intimately attuned to the outcome you commit to. You want to get healthy - why? What specifically about your health do you wish to improve and for what purpose? Do you want to fit into your old jeans, recover from a heart attack, or maintain your health as you age? Once you answer that question, ask it again, and again, and again, until you have broken down that outcome into something that looks like this:

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I am going to work to improve my overall health, and poise myself to remain fit as I age. I want to do this so I can feel good about myself, and so I can continue doing the things I love. I want to be able to _____ and _________ . Improving my health will allow me to _______ and

_________ . And so on…

I want to have a million dollars in the bank because I want to be independently wealthy. I want to know I never again have to worry about overdrawn checking accounts. I want to provide for myself and my family. I want to choose how I spend my time. I will spend that time doing

_____ and ____ instead of ____________ and ___________.

The more specific you are about your outcome, the more driven you will be to remain dedicated to achieving it. Now you are ready to begin the challenging parts to achieving those outcomes.

3. Acknowledge Exactly WhereYou Are...Do not go easy on yourself in this step. Lay bare your current status, so that you may better gauge the path ahead. We see this done literally in weight loss challenges, with “before” and “after” shots.

Take stock of your life, both personally and professionally. What do you love about it? What drags you down? This is the time to be unflinchingly honest with yourself. Come to terms with whatever may have happened in your past, and acknowledge the extent to which you use that as a crutch or excuse for not following through on your path to your outcome.

It is supposed to be uncomfortable to do this - who wants to admit how far they’ve let their lives go from where they intended to be? No one wants to admit they can be doing more. But if you are honest with yourself, and dedicated to this process, you will take whatever negative emotions this step conjures up and use them as fuel for your drive to your outcome.

4. Write down actionable steps to achieve desired results...Here again you must be detailed and specific. If you want to have a million dollars in the bank, you must have a plan. Look back to the previous step and identify the things that are dragging you down. Do you have debt? What are your steps for clearing that debt? List the order in which you will clear that debt and link that with an action you will take to do so. It’s okay to leave some blank spaces for actions, for the time being. Once your list is complete, brain dump all options, and start plugging them into your actions.

For instance, “I will erase my credit card debt first.” How? “By paying down an extra___ per month for ___ months.” Now look at your budget to determine the area to pull that extra money from. Write it down, and when you are tempted to break that commitment, look back at Step 2 and forward to Step 6 to replenish that drive.

5. Write down the known Obstacles, and prepare for them...What stands between you and your outcome? Internal and external obstacles are certain to challenge you. What is it about yourself, from willpower to accountability, that lengthens that gap between you and where you want to be? What is it in your life that makes it difficult? Do you struggle to find the time to balance your budget? Are you working long hours with copious amounts of responsibilities outside of work? Are you too tired at the end of the day, or the beginning, to dedicate time to your path? Is there someone in your life who continually dismisses your dedication to your outcome, telling you it’s a waste of time, or things are fine just the way they are, or that your chosen outcome is too much for you to reach?

List each obstacle and create a plan for how you will respond as it appears in your daily life. This will not be easy. Stick with it. Think creatively.

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Focus on your outcome, and focus on the next step, to restore your drive.

6. Attach Your Why And Your Bigger Purpose…Ask yourself, “What is my WHY? What is my bigger purpose? What impact would I like to make on others? What gets you out of bed in the morning?

This is usually something deeper than just day to day obligations. It may not be immediately evident to you but it could be as simple as having more time with the people you love.

Your WHY is more internal, something that is part of your identity. You will recognize it when you see it because it will move you emotionally. However, along with your why you should have a Bigger Purpose. This is more external, something that is much bigger than yourself. This is something that leaves a lasting impact; a cause or mission in life.

Why do you want to spend time with your family, or have more time for yourself? If your focus is time for yourself - what do you want to do with that time? Is it just about doing what you want when you want? Or is about having the time to volunteer at a food pantry, help veterans, bring clean water to third world countries or help the homeless? What do you feel pulled towards - writing? traveling? giving back to others?

Here is an exercise to help you hone in on your why, and your bigger purpose.

Answer these 4 questions:

1. What makes you come alive?2. What are your innate strengths?3. Where do you add the greatest value?4. How will you measure your life?

The answers to these questions should be well thought out. They will reveal to you more than you may realize about yourself, your passions, and your vision for your own life. Write the answers

down in a journal or on a piece of paper. Read them often to remind yourself why you are remaining committed to your outcome even when it is difficult.

When you have a crystal clear WHY and a bigger purpose you have more fuel for the engine that will keep you moving forward towards the results and outcomes you want to see in your life.

7. Accept FeedbackRecognize and own the results of your work, both the good and the bad. What have you done that has advanced you on your path to that outcome? How can you build on that? What hasn’t worked well for you and what have you learned from that?

How can you adjust your behavior to get better results? Are you even seeing results? If not,why?

For instance- Have you made headway in paying off your bad debt? What has helped you in doing that? How can you enhance that effort? What hasn’t helped you - did you take a new job with a higher salary, only to have it end in disaster? Are you currently out of work and eyeing those credit cards as a means to get by? What other options do you have? How badly do you want that outcome? Are you willing to drastically sacrifice now for that outcome to happen?

Maybe you are in a position to find different housing options, more affordable, or maybe you have a mortgage to pay and a school district to keep your kids in.

Whatever your situation, it is temporary. This is when it gets difficult and you will need to remind yourself of your WHY. Learn from the behavior that created your current situation, accept that feedback from yourself and commit to getting back up and getting back on the path to your outcome. Rather than chastise yourself for taking that leap, congratulate yourself on your courage and tap into it again to keep moving forward. There is no yesterday, only today. Today is a new day.

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Accept feedback from others. This is where having an accountability partner, coach or mentor can really be beneficial. They will be brutally honest with you about where you are, will hold you accountable, and push you to take bigger action.

8. Begin NowToday is the best day to begin taking these steps towards your outcome. There may be dozens of excuses in your head for why you can’t take the time to do it. The voice in your head may be shouting all of those excuses at you. It is your duty to yourself to ignore that voice and take action. Tell yourself “I can and I will” and use your why and bigger purpose to propel you into taking massive action. Your WHY and your purpose are the shiny objects on the hill that will get you started and keep you focused on achieving the results and outcomes you’re after.

Inspiration without action is simply entertainment. You can’t change unless you are willing to change. If you want different results you have to take different actions. Without taking these steps forward you will remain precisely where you are - never growing, never changing, never experiencing the outcome you truly want in your life. Time will pass regardless of how you spend it. It is indifferent to the joys and heartaches of humanity. Regardless of what has happened in your past, you still have power over your future. The time is now, stop letting it slip away.

9. Surround Yourself With People You Want To Be LikePeople who live by Default hang around people who live by Default. Similarly, people who live by Design hang around people who live by Design.Choose your friends carefully. As they say, “You are a reflection of the five people you spend the most time around.” Make sure that the people who fill your life and your time are people who live with principles aligned with your own. Ideally,

these people should even be a little bit ahead of you, forcing you to stretch and continue to grow in the direction you’d like to go

10. Never Miss A DayEvery day requires action. Every day is an opportunity to move closer to your outcome. There is something you can do each day, no matter how large or how small, to move you toward your outcome. After all, success is progress. It’s the pursuit of the fulfillment of potential. So focus on getting 1% better everyday. Focus on making progress. The compound effect of your daily actionable steps will yield in huge results down the road.

If you find yourself skipping a day or if you think you’re not improving then take a moment to reflect, recharge, and recommit. Regain your momentum so you can attack your path twice as hard the next day.

Win The Day - Daily Habits For Positive MomentumNow you’ve got the steps necessary for you to realize your American Dream - but how do you find the time or willpower to remain committed to doing so? Here are some tips to attack and win each day.

Commit to doing these steps every day for the next 90s days. Why 90 days? Because after 90 days they will become habit and you’ll continue doing them daily once you see the impact they begin to have on your life.

Wake Up An Hour Early To Live An Hour More - Wake up early, preferably between 5-7 A.M. Yes, even on the weekend! If you win the morning you win the day

Successful people are often early risers. Why? Because they understand that waking up early in the morning is one of the best ways to get more

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out of your day.

“Mind over mattress” ~ Robin Sharma

Your day is packed with tests that measure your commitment. Getting out of bed is the very first one.

Why start your day conceding to mediocrity when you can instead embrace the mindset of success? Is that extra 30 minutes in bed really more important to you, than your entire approach to your day - which sets the tone for your path to your American Dream? Get up!

Action Step: Make a commitment for the next 90 days to wake up between 5-7 a.m every day. If that’s something you struggle with then just try waking up 30 minutes earlier each day. It takes about 2 weeks for something to become a habit so stick with this powerful exercise and you’ll see success come much faster for you both in business and life.

Make Your Bed - There is great power in straightening your sheets once you’re out of bed. I know this sounds funny but it’s a very positive way to start the day. It also encourages you to do even more tasks, enabling you to get more done. It teaches you that the little things in life matter and gives you a sense of control.

Retired Navy SEAL commander Admiral William H. McRaven feels that this rather simple act is very important. McRaven discussed this very notion in a 2014 commencement speech he gave to students at the University of Texas. You can watch that here.

The reason that making your bed is so powerful is that it gives you a feeling of accomplishment first thing in the morning. It also encourages you to do even more tasks, enabling you to get more done.

It’s about exerting control where you can, because no matter how shitty your day is, no matter how catastrophic it might become, you can make your bed.

Action Step: Get up an hour earlier, drink a glass of water, brush your teeth, and make your bed. If

you do this there is no way you’ll climb back in for some extra sleep.

Read 15 Minutes Everyday - Reading is important because it develops the mind. The mind is a muscle and it needs exercise. The most successful entrepreneurs in the world are avid readers. In an interview, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates were asked if they could have one superpower in the world, what would it be?

They both said that being the worlds fastest reader would be HUGE. Why? Reading books help you get the creative juices flowing, the brain learning, and your knowledge base growing.

Reading the right books like personal development and financial education will feed your mind with nuggets of wisdom needed to succeed in both business and life. Start by reading 30 minutes every day (non-fiction). If you read just 30 minutes a day — every day, for one year — you can complete 40-50 books!

“Five years from today, you will be the same person that you are today except for the books you read and the people you meet.” ~ Charlie Jones

Action Step: Make a commitment to read for at least 15 minutes a day

Journaling - Writing every day in a journal is an extremely powerful exercise. It can reduce stress and anxiety, clear your head and force creativity by spurring new ideas.

Journaling can provoke creativity, clarify ideas or visions, prioritize tasks and synchronize the day at hand. You can write about anything and everything that crosses your mind. It’s about getting clear and trapping those worrisome, jittery, maddening and confusing thoughts on paper. It can be one of the most important habits you form.

Any level of writer can keep a journal. This is for your own use, to purge thoughts that clutter your mind, remind yourself of ideas to pursue, and capture moments you want to remember.

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Action Step: Write for 5 minutes every morning for the next 90 days so it becomes a habit. By taking time every morning to write your thoughts down, you can start your day on a more positive note and go about your day with a clear and positive mind.

Jotting down the first ideas that come into your mind each day can substantially impact your vision for that day, and toward your overall outcome. Our subconscious mind is powerful, and lingering thoughts from the world of sleep can reveal ideas or insight you aren’t even aware you have.

Reach for your Resources - You are surrounded by all the resources you need. Repeat that to yourself, as many times as it takes, until you believe it to be true. Then, take a look around your immediate world to itemize the resources at hand.

Don’t forget to include yourself on this list, for you are your own biggest resource.

Failure to recognize resources is one of the most common obstacles to getting stuck and living life by default. Fear of reaching for those resources is another common obstacle.

Are your fear and sense of pride more important to you, than your American Dream? Are you going to decline the opportunity to access a resource you need, to get through a temporary setback or advance towards a larger vision, because you are scared of rejection or failure? Or because you let yourself believe it is shameful to ask for or accept help? You have all the resources you need. It’s up to you to grab onto them!

Action Step: Write down those resources within your immediate reach. Remember to include yourself, and your strengths, as well as financial or tangible items. Now look one step further out into your world - who do you know who has information, or mentoring, or support, you could use? How about networking - who do you want an opportunity to meet with for the opportunity to pitch that vision, ask for that loan, or collaborate with?

Write down everything that could happen if you grabbed on to any one of those resources.Then assess what is preventing you from going for it. This gives you the opportunity to put things into perspective so you may better commit to the 10 Steps above.

Listen To Uplifting Music - This is really a no-brainer. There’s no doubt that listening to our favorite music can instantly put us in a good mood. Music that gets you revved up can have a direct impact on our mood, especially in the morning.

Uplifting music can rev up our emotions and put us in a more powerful and positive state.

Like most people, you probably don’t listen to any music until you’re on your way to work. By adding uplifting music to your morning routine you can trigger an empowering mindset that sets the tone for your day. Be very conscious of the music you listen to and always play something that lifts you up...this is especially important if your mood in the morning is not that great.

Music impacts mindset which impacts behavior which impacts results. Action Step: Listen to uplifting music every day for next 90 days. One suggestion is to just listen to a song that typically puts you in a good mood. Find a comfortable place to sit and concentrate on your breathing while it’s playing. This is a form of mediation and can help you get centered for the day ahead.

Get Off Your Ass!- Yes, we’re talking to you.

Did you know that not only do the most successful people wake up early, but they also get their workout routine in long before sunrise? Daily morning exercising will give you the energy boost you need to not only make it through the day, but to do it in the most productive way possible.

How does it work? Working out increases blood flow to the brain, and regular exercise boosts alertness, endorphins, memory, learning... need we go on?

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It’s been proven that exercise increases both your focus and cognitive performance for any difficult task you might face during the day.

Whether you’re exercising in the am (highly recommended) or at another time during the day, daily exercise will help you boost your productivity so you can get more done. It’s the fastest and easiest way to get energized and out of the doldrums. In fact, exercise is one of the greatest productivity tools in the world. It will give you an unfair advantage for whatever obstacles are sent your way each day.

Not a morning person? Already trying to figure out how to add all these steps into your morning routine? That’s okay - we all know what it’s like to crash in the middle of the afternoon. Instead of reaching for that extra latte when that crash hits, step away from your desk and go for a quick walk.

Trapped in an office? Find some errands to take you up or down stairs. Work from home? Walk around the block. Get out in that air, pop in some headphones with some uplifting music, and treat yourself to 20 minutes of good mojo.

You can also do this when you arrive home from work. This is arguably our second most vulnerable time of day with regard to maintaining commitment to those 10 Steps. You’re tired and strung out from work. You have dinner to cook or kids to pick up or whatever it is you must get done.

Excuses abound. The couch beckons.

You have the power over this decision.

Whether you give in to that temporary urge to call it a day, or push through to claim the rest of your day, is entirely up to you.

Stop making excuses, and start making daily exercise a priority. Your business and life depend on it.

Action Step: Do some kind of daily exercise for the next 90 days, preferably in the morning, but any time during the day works too. Just allocate the time, commit to it and get it done.

The Perfect Day Exercise - Get crystal clear on what you want. Picturing your ideal day is a common exercise we use with our clients. It’s clarification visualization; a way to clearly define what you’re really after in your professional and personal life and for your American Dream. Take a moment and imagine your ideal day…At work or at play. Big events or routine tasks. Imagine how you’d feel as you yawn, stretch, and step out of bed. What your first action would be. Your second. What you’d eat, what you’d do, and how you’d spend your time. The lightness of happiness as you ease (or not, if that’s your pleasure) from one activity to the next. Your ideal day, start to finish. Get started with the questions below. Think about them, see your day clearly in your mind, and then write it.

Take out a notepad or some paper and write it out. Be as detailed and descriptive as possible. You can make it happen. Dream big and write your perfect day right now.

Just imagine...Where would you live?What would your house look like?What would it smell like?What would you do in the morning?What would you have for breakfast?What would you be thinking about?Where would you spend the first half of the day?What would you have for lunch?Who would you eat with?What would your friends be like?What would you do for personal fulfillment?What life purpose would you strive towards?What would your business be?What time would you start work?What would you actually do at work?What are your clients like?What is relationship like with spouse? Family?What would you do for family time?Where would you eat?Who would you eat with?What would you talk about?Who would you do it with?What time would you go to bed?What would that look like?

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What would you think about when you go to bed?Who would you be next to (if anyone)?

When you have answered all of these questions, go back and expand upon those answers. Write it as if you are remembering it: Was the wind blowing into your bedroom windows? Did the

wind carry any scent with it? Was it raining? Could you hear the rain on your roof, or was a tree branch tapping your window?

Your Perfect Day writing should be several pages long. There is no such thing as too much detail.

Final Thoughts …

“Every new day is another chance to change your life” ~ Unknown

The greatest risk in life is to live a life that doesn’t fulfill you. Too many people are giving up on their DREAMS for PERCEIVED EXPECTATIONS . Too many people become swept away along the well-worn path of unfulfillment as they allow themselves to believe in the myth that the American Dream is only for “other people.”

By downloading this book and reading it through, you have already acknowledged something within yourself that chooses not to settle for mediocrity.

You have already taken a step toward realizing your own American Dream and turning that dream into your reality.

Thank you for letting us be a part of your path.

And if you need a little inspiration or more motivation, you can always revisit The American Snippets Website and Podcast to find an exceptional story, person or message to get you going :)