Corey Wadden has told us that his Paperblanks Leonardo’s Sketches Grande journal has changed his life. Corey is currently taking a 24-month challenge to earn a million dollars and retire his mom (a story he’s sharing on his blog, “Millionaire by 25“). Corey says he’s come a long way and ties much of his progress to the “Dream Book” he’s created from the Leonardo’s Sketches journal – basically a book filled with things you want to be, do and have in your life.
Corey has outlined how he used his journal on his blog in an article called “The $50 Purchase That Will Change Your Life: My Secret Weapon.” It’s a wonderful piece for anyone interested in seeing and learning about yet another kind of project you can create with a journal.
We’ve excerpted some quotes and images from that article below!
The Genesis of Corey Wadden’s Dream Book
I’ve been told from numerous entrepreneurs I’ve interviewed as well as by people in books, to create a vision board. Putting your goals into pictures on a board will help you visualize what you desire and help you get there faster.
I made one and while it was powerful, there was something missing. I wasn’t as excited to look at it all the time. It did help, though. My friend told me he wanted to make a “dream book”. Puzzled, I looked online to find what exactly that was. I couldn’t find any examples online, but it did sound interesting – a book that you could carry on the go for inspiration.
The next day, I went to the mall in search of a book that I could fill with my dreams and aspirations, and after a few hours of searching, I found the perfect book. The inside pages were blank, all 100+ of them.
When I returned home, I started thinking about how I could fill the book with things I want to be, do and have. It was daunting, but exciting.
Over the next month I spent countless hours searching and thinking about what I truly wanted. What followed in the next 6 months was pretty ****ing cool if I may say so myself.
How Corey Made His Dream Book
Corey recommends the following tools, which he says costs about $50 or less: A scrapbook or art book, Pinterest, magazines, and a printer.
And here’s how he created his book:
1) Include a “Before” and “After”
“I will break down each section from beginning to end and demonstrate how you can structure the contents within. In every section, you will make one page (the left page) the design of what you want to be, do or have. So, for instance, let’s say you want to be on the Oprah show. You would put a picture of the Oprah show on the left page at the top, and leave the right page blank for when you really accomplish it.”
2) Include a Deadline
Add a deadline to each desire. Sorted by the year (ie. 2014) or age (ie. Age 26)
3) Write Down the Story
Write down the story of how it happened.
4) Break the Book Into Chapters
Corey structured his book into seven parts: Cover/Title Page, The Ideal You, Accomplishments, Deam Possessions, Your Ideal Partner, Meeting Your Heroes, and Travel.
You can read all about these different parts and how Corey approached them on his blog post on the subject here.
Find example pages below:
What He’s Accomplished Up To Now
In the blog post he outlines how he’s accomplished “7.5 things out of 103” items in the journal, and in just 7 months. “That’s nearly 10%,” he continues. “At this pace, I will have achieved everything within 7-8 years (By the time I’m 32). I stand by this tool as the best thing I have ever used for achieving what I desire. I think you can too.”
Corey concludes:
You can argue that this book isn’t the reason that I accomplished all of the things so far, but I would argue to you that it is. Half of the things on the list I didn’t even realize I wanted until I really put time into thinking about them and put them on paper. By constantly looking at it, it was always on the top of my mind.”
This tool can be used in so many ways. You can pass it along to your children when you get older, you can take the completed pages out and frame them, the list goes on. Whatever you end up doing with it, I dare you to try and leave home without it. It’s tough. Take a look at it as often as you need and it will bring you a smile to your face. Take as much time as it takes to finish it, and leave room for ongoing additions.
Whether you believe in manifestation and/or the law of attraction or not, it’s a powerful motivator just to look at. The exercise of actually sitting down and finding out what you want in life is invaluable. You will discover so much about yourself. It helped me magnify what I wanted and why I wanted those things. Think about it, it’s your dream life in your knapsack.
Corey is asking readers to share their own dream books with him so he can showcase them on his blog and social media networks. If you want to contribute visit his Millionaire By 25 blog!
About Paperblanks®: We have been producing superb writing journals for twenty years. We are book people, and we believe that the written word matters and that our blank books have a critical role to play in the art and continued practice of writing itself. For more about Paperblanks®, go to our website at paperblanks.com.
