Want to turn your dreams into reality? A simple strategy can make it happen, and it won't cost you a penny. But it will cost you a few thoughtful minutes.

Who am I, and why should you read on?

Well, for starters, I'm one of the lucky few humans on this planet living a dream, and I have been for the last twenty-five years. And when I say "living a dream," I mean financial freedom, personal achievement, and durable happiness. It has become my personal mission to help people escape the culture of mediocrity and low expectations... to help people become the greatest they can be.

But before I could do that, I had my own dreams to conquer. Or I should say, problems.

After I graduated from college in 1992, one of my goals was to become an entrepreneur. Unlike most of my college peers, I didn't interview for jobs. I tried to start a business. Several, in fact.

All ended in failure.

Back then, I had no problem dreaming or making goals; I had a problem executing. I had issues moving those dreams closer to reality.

Except I didn't buy that company.

Instead, I packed my things and moved 1,800 miles across the country to sunny Phoenix, Arizona.

And that was the best decision of my life—not buying a D-list limousine company. How do I know, and why should you care?

Because the exact strategy I used three decades ago to determine the path to my dreams is the same system you can use today at GoalSumo. But get this: while I hope you become a happy GoalSumo member, I will still tell you exactly how you can leverage this strategy today and for FREE.

All you need is some contemplative thinking, a pencil, and a blank piece of paper.

The path to your dreams resides in a simple method called a 1/5/10 Strategy. A 1/5/10 Strategy helped me avoid some costly mistakes, and it will do the same for you.

Owning a limousine company in crowded and dreary Chicago would have been one of those mistakes. More importantly, my 1/5/10 Strategy helped me achieve my wildest dreams and lead an extraordinary life with few regrets. Side note: Exit this world without a single regret, you will win the game of life.

But here's the kicker: If you asked me how I "won life," I wouldn't chalk it up to commonly parroted answers. Living a dream life doesn't come down to hard work, your college education, your IQ, or your networking contacts on your smartphone.

Yes, these things can help.

A confession: As an introvert, my network of close contacts, people I can call on personally, is relatively small. Likewise, I wouldn't call myself remarkably brilliant or clever, but just of average intellect. And yes, I worked hard, but it was intelligent work. In other words, you can earn your dream \life if you're focused on the right things. And those "right things" are only exposed in a 1/5/10 Strategy.

The 1/5/10 Strategy is a meditative visualization and goal-setting exercise with two objectives:

But it also has a powerful third benefit, a life-changing advantage you can immediately wield from its use.

The first step in the 1/5/10 Strategy is to find a quiet place and sit comfortably. Beach, rooftop balcony, your favorite hiking trail; the key is to lower your stress and limit distraction.

Once seated, close your eyes, take a deep breath and visualize yourself in a dream machine that transports you to your best life ten years from now. Voyeur and spectate on future you. What would your dream life look like if everything went as well as it could? What would your life look like to enjoy maximum fulfillment and happiness?

Please don't confuse this visualization exercise with The Law of Attraction. The Law of Attraction is a well-hyped commercialized version of visualization which targets the dreaming, not the doing.

Consider these detailed answers your new dream goals.

After you set several ambitious goals for your life, the next step is to create a plan to transform them into reality.

After describing your perfect dream life 10 years from now, the next step is to visualize your life 5 years from today. This time, imagine how your life would need to look to be HALFWAY to your ten-year dream life. What needs to be done? And accomplished? Be specific and measurable in defining these smaller sub-goals. For example, if your ten-year dream goal was to sell a company for eight-figures, your five-year goal might be to own a company with $500K in profits.

After segmenting your 10- and 5-year goals, now define your goals for a 1-year milestone. What would you need to accomplish within the next year to have reasonable progress on those 5-year goals? Reasonable progress is subjective and arbitrary. Your 1-year goals only need to demonstrate meaningful progress toward that 5-year timeframe—10%, 25%, 33%—it doesn't matter. Back to our example, if your five-year goal is $500K in profits, your one-year goal might be to earn your first $10,000 in profits from a successful business startup.

The following two steps are identical to the last. This time, what would you need to accomplish this month to have reasonable progress on those 1-year goals? What needs to be done? What needs to be studied and learned? Or researched?

Repeat the same exercise for your weekly goals. Ask yourself, how do I make meaningful progress this week to make meaningful progress on my monthly goals? What needs to be done? What needs to be studied and learned? Or researched?

Once you have engineered a complete chain of goals, you're ready for execution.

To guarantee steady progress, ensure at least one daily task is "chained" to a weekly goal. Do that daily, and you will accomplish your weekly goals.

But here's where the magic happens: Any completed weekly goal automatically chain-reacts toward your dream goals.

Think of this goal-chaining process as toppling a domino that sequentially topples a larger domino. The small things lead to the big things.

And as you achieve your goals, you'll discover some remarkable things about yourself. Yes, goals will change. Drives will transform. Ideas might sprout. The point is you're moving away from mediocrity and toward success.The 1/5/10 Strategy engineers a better you.

You see, the average person doesn't have a goal-setting problem.  Ordinary people set New Year's Resolutions every year and ultimately fail at them. Anybody can muster the mental bandwidth to think of a goal on January 1st. It takes 15 easy seconds to set a goal, but it might take 15 hard minutes to make a plan. Goal setting isn't the issue; it's goal execution.

Give serious consideration to your 1/5/10 Strategy, and you'll also unlock a tremendous gift, perhaps a gift as valuable as the blueprint itself.

A well-engineered 1/5/10 Strategy grants you a priceless decision framework for daily living. Going forward, any decision you make, large or small, can be referenced against your 1/5/10 Strategy.

Will this decision advance me toward my weekly or monthly goals?

Will this decision advance me to my dream life?

Or will this decision move me away from my dream life?

When I had the amazing opportunity to buy a limousine company in Chicago, my 1/5/10 Strategy revealed the best decision. Owning a limousine company was not one of them. Sure, it met my short-term goal to own a business, yet, meeting that goal would have been a pyrrhic victory as it didn't advance me toward the dreams I envisioned. And that dream didn't have Chicago in my future.

I refused the opportunity, and a few months later, I moved to Phoenix, Arizona, a sunny location that I identified in my 1/5/10 Strategy. And I never looked back.

This deliberative visualization planning your 1/5/10 Strategy is about knowing precisely what you want and why you want it. While it's great to dream of owning a business like I did years ago, knowing WHY you want it is also important. These reasons might unearth important values buried in your subconscious, values your 1/5/10 Strategy might sniff out.

Altogether, your 1/5/10 Strategy becomes a flexible, living document that will change as you transform your life.

There are no deadlines, only elastic timeframes.

If you'd like to engineer your dreams into a 1/5/10 Strategy, you can grab a free trial at GoalSumo. Or, download our free 1/5/10 Daily Planner in PDF form. Or you can create your own whiteboard methods.

Either way, before embarking on your dream deliberation, align your goals with the SMARTER goal-setting framework. SMARTER is similar to the SMART goal guidelines but is focused more on goal execution, not goal setting, just like a 1/5/10 Strategy.

People who live their best life don't get there by accident. They visualize, they dream, and they plan. And then they ACT according to the plan. Taking a few minutes to put your dreams into a blueprint could be the best time you ever spent, one that can pay dividends for a lifetime.

I hope you get started today!

MJ DeMarco, Co-founder, GoalSumo!