<\/p>\n
Tonight, as I sit here looking at my American Airlines account showing 3,997,398 miles, I\u2019m not thinking about upgrades or points or airport lounges.
I\u2019m thinking about the journey behind those miles \u2014 and the life that unfolded because of a single decision made on a cold Tuesday night in November of 1980.<\/p>\n
<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.19.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alfredobala.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WhatsApp-Image-2025-11-17-at-12.46.35-PM.jpeg” title_text=”WhatsApp Image 2025-11-17 at 12.46.35 PM” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” header_2_font=”|600|||||||” header_2_font_size=”22px” text_orientation=”justified” custom_padding=”||0px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]
This month marks the anniversary of that night \u2014 a night that changed the entire trajectory of my life.<\/p>\n
Where It Really Began<\/strong><\/p>\n Long before the miles, the titles, the speeches, and the international business\u2026 I didn\u2019t have a college degree. What I did have was a hunger for something more \u2014 even though I couldn\u2019t yet define what \u201cmore\u201d looked like.<\/p>\n And then came that Tuesday night.<\/p>\n A friend invited me to an Amway Opportunity Meeting in Warwick, Rhode Island. Because that night, for the first time, I saw people who talked about possibility, purpose, and building a better future by helping others. Something shifted inside me. Enough belief for me to say something out loud that felt almost ridiculous at the time:<\/p>\n \u201cOne day, I will travel the world visiting my businesses.\u201d<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” header_2_font=”|600|||||||” header_2_font_size=”22px” text_orientation=”justified” custom_padding=”||0px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] The truth? But the moment I spoke those words, something aligned inside me. Visualize. From That Sentence\u2026 to the Sky<\/p>\n Fast forward 45 years, and here is what that one sentence has turned into:<\/p>\n \u2714\ufe0f 4,000,000 miles on American Airlines alone I say all this not to impress anyone, but to honor the journey \u2014 and the dream that started it all.<\/p>\n Because when I look at these numbers, what I feel most is gratitude. The miles are not the accomplishment. What Four Million Miles Really Means<\/strong><\/p>\n To put it into perspective:<\/p>\n \ud83c\udf15 4 million miles is enough to travel to the Moon and back more than 8 times. But here\u2019s the truth:<\/p>\n These miles weren\u2019t about travel. They were about building people. Every mile tells a story.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Anniversary of a Dream Spoken Into Existence<\/p>\n And now, on the anniversary of that Tuesday night in November 1980, I can see clearly what was happening, even though I didn\u2019t see it then.<\/p>\n I wasn\u2019t just dreaming. I was speaking my future into existence.<\/p>\n That night, when I quietly said, But I\u2019ve learned something after four decades of leadership:<\/p>\n What you speak consistently, you begin to believe. Those early words \u2014 spoken with more hope than certainty \u2014 built the runway for everything that followed.<\/p>\n Why I Wrote The Motivation Equation<\/p>\n This journey \u2014 the dream, the miles, the markets, the leaders, the decades of growth \u2014 is one of the driving motivations behind writing my book, \u201cThe Motivation Equation.\u201d<\/p>\n I wanted to put into the hands of others a truth I learned the long way:<\/p>\n Your dream doesn\u2019t have to make sense at the beginning. If a kid from a jewelry factory can eventually travel millions of miles, lead global companies, and help build international markets across 65+ nations\u2026 But you have to start where I started:<\/p>\n \u2728 Visualize it. That\u2019s The Motivation Equation. The Journey Continues<\/strong><\/p>\n As I approach the official 4,000,000-mile mark with American Airlines \u2014 with millions more across other carriers \u2014 I don\u2019t see a number.<\/p>\n I see a life. This is not the end of the story. But tonight, I honor that young immigrant who sat in a folding chair in Warwick, Rhode Island, and dared to say words that didn\u2019t match his reality.<\/p>\n Words that would eventually carry him around the world.<\/p>\n Words that are still carrying him today.<\/p>\n \u2014 Alfredo Bala A Dream Born on a Tuesday Night in November of 1980 Tonight, as I sit here looking at my American Airlines account showing 3,997,398 miles, I\u2019m not thinking about upgrades or points or airport lounges.I\u2019m thinking about the journey behind those miles \u2014 and the life that unfolded because of a single decision made […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-talking-with-ceo"],"yoast_head":"\n
I was a first-generation immigrant, standing at a workbench in a jewelry factory in Providence, Rhode Island, polishing metal pieces one by one.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have connections.
I didn\u2019t speak perfect English.
And I certainly didn\u2019t have a roadmap for the future.<\/p>\n
I had no idea what to expect.
I walked in curious\u2026
and walked out changed.<\/p>\n
It was unlike anything I had ever experienced.<\/p>\n
A spark.
A whisper of belief.<\/p>\n
I had no business.
No passport.
No savings.
Just a dream \u2014 fragile, but alive.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know it then, but I had just lived out the same pattern that would guide my entire life:<\/p>\n
Verbalize.
Actualize.<\/p>\n
\u2714\ufe0f An additional 1,000,000 miles with United Airlines
\u2714\ufe0f Hundreds of thousands more flown with airlines around the world
\u2714\ufe0f Over 88 countries visited
\u2714\ufe0f More than 500 major international cities
\u2714\ufe0f Nearly 70 international markets launched or relaunched for Amway and Mannatech
\u2714\ufe0f A lifetime spent mentoring leaders across continents<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/alfredobala.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/white-book-with-white-cover-that-says-book-scaled.jpg” title_text=”white-book-with-white-cover-that-says-book” show_bottom_space_tablet=”” show_bottom_space_phone=”” show_bottom_space_last_edited=”on|phone” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”0px||||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”-58px||||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”-33px||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”18px” header_2_font=”|600|||||||” header_2_font_size=”22px” text_orientation=”justified” custom_padding=”||0px|||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″]
Gratitude for every airport, every hotel, every culture, every conversation, every handshake, every leader I\u2019ve sat with from Johannesburg to Tokyo, S\u00e3o Paulo to Seoul.<\/p>\n
The people are.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udf0d It\u2019s the equivalent of circling the Earth\u2019s equator 160 times.
\u2708\ufe0f It represents well over a decade of my life spent in the air.
And it\u2019s more travel than most people will do in ten lifetimes.<\/p>\n
They were about purpose.<\/p>\n
Expanding markets.
Launching dreams.
Meeting leaders who would go on to impact thousands of lives.
Carrying a mission \u2014 sometimes across oceans, sometimes across language barriers, sometimes across uncertainty \u2014 but always forward.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t just visualizing.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day, I will travel the world visiting my businesses,\u201d
I had no idea those words were prophetic.
I had no idea they would become the very architecture of my life.<\/p>\n
What you believe deeply, you begin to act on.
What you act on relentlessly\u2026 becomes your reality.<\/p>\n
It only needs to be spoken.<\/p>\n
then your dream \u2014 however wild or \u201cunrealistic\u201d it seems right now \u2014 is absolutely possible.<\/p>\n
\u2728 Verbalize it.
\u2728 And take consistent action until you actualize it.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the heartbeat of my life\u2019s work.
That\u2019s the message I want to pass on.<\/p>\n
A calling.
A dream realized.
And proof that faith, mentorship, discipline, and vision can carry you farther than you ever imagined.<\/p>\n
Not even close.<\/p>\n
The Motivation Guy
Author of The Motivation Equation<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"