Four Million Miles

This month marks the anniversary of that night — a night that changed the entire trajectory of my life.

Where It Really Began

Long before the miles, the titles, the speeches, and the international business…
I was a first-generation immigrant, standing at a workbench in a jewelry factory in Providence, Rhode Island, polishing metal pieces one by one.

I didn’t have a college degree.
I didn’t have connections.
I didn’t speak perfect English.
And I certainly didn’t have a roadmap for the future.

What I did have was a hunger for something more — even though I couldn’t yet define what “more” looked like.

And then came that Tuesday night.

A friend invited me to an Amway Opportunity Meeting in Warwick, Rhode Island.
I had no idea what to expect.
I walked in curious…
and walked out changed.

Because that night, for the first time, I saw people who talked about possibility, purpose, and building a better future by helping others.
It was unlike anything I had ever experienced.

Something shifted inside me.
A spark.
A whisper of belief.

Enough belief for me to say something out loud that felt almost ridiculous at the time:

“One day, I will travel the world visiting my businesses.”

I say all this not to impress anyone, but to honor the journey — and the dream that started it all.

Because when I look at these numbers, what I feel most is gratitude.
Gratitude for every airport, every hotel, every culture, every conversation, every handshake, every leader I’ve sat with from Johannesburg to Tokyo, São Paulo to Seoul.

The miles are not the accomplishment.
The people are.

What Four Million Miles Really Means

To put it into perspective:

🌕 4 million miles is enough to travel to the Moon and back more than 8 times.
🌍 It’s the equivalent of circling the Earth’s equator 160 times.
✈️ It represents well over a decade of my life spent in the air.
And it’s more travel than most people will do in ten lifetimes.

But here’s the truth:

These miles weren’t about travel.
They were about purpose.

They were about building people.
Expanding markets.
Launching dreams.
Meeting leaders who would go on to impact thousands of lives.
Carrying a mission — sometimes across oceans, sometimes across language barriers, sometimes across uncertainty — but always forward.

Every mile tells a story.

The Anniversary of a Dream Spoken Into Existence

And now, on the anniversary of that Tuesday night in November 1980, I can see clearly what was happening, even though I didn’t see it then.

I wasn’t just dreaming.
I wasn’t just visualizing.

I was speaking my future into existence.

That night, when I quietly said,
“One day, I will travel the world visiting my businesses,”
I had no idea those words were prophetic.
I had no idea they would become the very architecture of my life.

But I’ve learned something after four decades of leadership:

What you speak consistently, you begin to believe.
What you believe deeply, you begin to act on.
What you act on relentlessly… becomes your reality.

Those early words — spoken with more hope than certainty — built the runway for everything that followed.

Why I Wrote The Motivation Equation

This journey — the dream, the miles, the markets, the leaders, the decades of growth — is one of the driving motivations behind writing my book, “The Motivation Equation.”

I wanted to put into the hands of others a truth I learned the long way:

Your dream doesn’t have to make sense at the beginning.
It only needs to be spoken.

If a kid from a jewelry factory can eventually travel millions of miles, lead global companies, and help build international markets across 65+ nations…
then your dream — however wild or “unrealistic” it seems right now — is absolutely possible.

But you have to start where I started:

✨ Visualize it.
✨ Verbalize it.
✨ And take consistent action until you actualize it.

That’s The Motivation Equation.
That’s the heartbeat of my life’s work.
That’s the message I want to pass on.

The Journey Continues

As I approach the official 4,000,000-mile mark with American Airlines — with millions more across other carriers — I don’t see a number.

I see a life.
A calling.
A dream realized.
And proof that faith, mentorship, discipline, and vision can carry you farther than you ever imagined.

This is not the end of the story.
Not even close.

But tonight, I honor that young immigrant who sat in a folding chair in Warwick, Rhode Island, and dared to say words that didn’t match his reality.

Words that would eventually carry him around the world.

Words that are still carrying him today.

— Alfredo Bala
The Motivation Guy
Author of The Motivation Equation