Dreams Built on Purpose

‍The Bridge Between Today and Someday

None of the homes, cars, music rooms filled with soaring notes, or cozy theaters where dreams come to life on screen — the hallmarks of life for leaders with big teams — happened by accident. Every brick, every heartbeat, every single step was born the only way real dreams ever are: with a wild vision and an unwillingness to ever give up.

In 1982, at 22 years old, I was a young man stepping into the vast, intimidating world of finance — inexperienced, unproven, and to be honest, outmatched. There were days so heavy, so overwhelming, quitting seemed like the only reasonable option. Doubt was a daily companion. Fear whispered louder than ambition. Every rejection felt like a hammer blow to the fragile structure of my dreams.

But I stayed.

I fought.

I grew.

And each time I stumbled, I realized something crucial — failure wasn't a wall; it was a step. Every "no" carried the seeds of a future "yes." Every closed door was simply a sign pointing me toward the right one.

By 1992, life handed me the gift most people pray never to receive: the chance to start over. Some would have called it a disaster. I chose to call it a decision point. With nothing but a battered 500-name list, a handful of brochures, and VCR tapes tucked under my arm, I made a decision that would define everything that came after.

I chose to connect.
I chose to build, not wait.
I chose to believe in what wasn’t yet visible.

Brick by brick, handshake by handshake, meeting by meeting, a future began to take shape. It was messy. It was painful. It was exhausting. And it was absolutely worth it.

We built a business not by waiting for things to get easier but by rising when it was hard. We built a life not by waiting for opportunities to knock, but by building doors where there were none.

And today, when I walk through my home, see the people around me thriving, when I hear music flowing from the piano room or laughter echoing from the theater, I sometimes pause and ask myself:

What if I had aimed even higher?
What if I had believed even bigger, even earlier?
What if the dreams I thought were bold, should have been bolder?

Back then, carrying a 500-name list felt like carrying the world in my hands. But now, you — yes, you — you carry at least a thousand names every day in your smartphone. A thousand people. A thousand lives you could change. A thousand doors waiting for someone bold enough to knock.

With today’s tools and technology, you have everything you need to transform your vision into a thriving business. The possibilities are as vast as your dreams, but turning them into reality requires a team capable of bringing your ideas to life.

The world you want doesn’t live in wishing. It doesn't come wrapped in luck or tossed to you by fortune. It lives in building. It lives in showing up when you don’t feel like it. It lives in dreaming when it seems unreasonable.

If there’s one message I would etch into the heart of every WealthWave leader, it would be this:

“Don’t shrink your dreams to match your business.
Build your business to match your dreams.”

Dreams don’t wait patiently for you. They don’t linger indefinitely, hoping you’ll catch up. They are built — moment by moment, decision by decision — and often long before they are seen by anyone else.

Dream wildly.
Build boldly.
Connect relentlessly.

Because the life you imagine isn’t "out there" somewhere. It’s not waiting to randomly happen to you.
It’s waiting for you to forge it, to fight for it, to insist it come into existence through your will and your action.

If you’re standing on the edge, doubting whether it’s possible, hear me clearly: It is possible. But only if you decide to make it so.

You already have every tool you need.

You already have more resources than we ever dreamed of in 1982.

You already have the wisdom of the leaders who went before you.

What you must summon — what you must unleash — is the fire inside you. That unstoppable belief that this isn't just about building a business. It’s about building a life, a legacy, a story so powerful that others find themselves lifted by it.

Somewhere in your contacts is a family who will sleep easier because of the choices you help them make.

Somewhere on your list is a young professional who is praying for a mentor to believe in them.

Somewhere inside you is a dream so bold, so breathtaking, it will terrify and thrill you at the same time.

So I ask you —
Will you build it?

Will you dare to aim not just high, but higher than you ever thought you could? Will you become the kind of leader who not only reaches success but brings hundreds and eventually thousands with you along the way?

The world doesn't need another hesitant dreamer. It needs you — clear-eyed, bold-hearted, relentless.

If you take one thing from my story, let it be this:

There are no accidents in a life lived on purpose.

There is only the dreamer, the builder, the one who decides that no matter how long it takes, no matter how high the climb, the life they envision is worth it.

Today, your dreams are already within reach. They are waiting for you to build the bridge between "right now" and "someday.”

So go.

Dream wildly.

Build boldly.

Connect relentlessly.

And someday soon, you'll look around — at your home, the laughter, the memories, the legacy — and realize it didn’t just happen to you.

You built it. On purpose. With heart. Brick by brick.

‍

Tom Mathews