The topic of goal setting and progress monitoring had been addressed here in previous posts, including ways to practice those priorities and receive coaching on them. There is an additional, less visible, and unavoidable side to that practice – its cost. What would it take to bring a change to fruition?
Enhancing one’s spirit and success by promoting the fulfillment of dreams, wishes, and self-actualization has gained popularity in recent decades through several venues: book sections at stores and libraries, workshop and seminar retreats, and, of course, life coaching, to name a few. Success and prosperity for a fistful of dollars.
These endeavors may succeed if ample energy and drive are invested to fulfill them. Time, money, patience, and drive are necessary engines for moving such plans forward. But pursuing dreams that are unrealistic by the virtue of their size or means can result in plans that fall short of their target due to insufficient support. That, in turn, could sink the individual acting upon them in debt, despair, and low self-worth.
Planning for these undertakings and setting up a support system are some of the essential basics that form the preliminary stage. Any major changes in a life course, whether personal or professional, must be carefully planned for and monitored as they progress. Running out of any of the support mechanisms that fuel this journey mid-way and having nothing to replace them with may disrupt the core progress and cause it to stall or even be lost altogether.
When preparing to actuate a dream, the first item to check (after setting up the plot) is how this dream is going to be realized. Ask yourself:
- Is the environment where this dream exists ready and able to accept you into its fold?
- Are you fit, physically and mentally, to do what is required to execute the dream?
- Do you have the needed amounts of time, money, and other resources necessary to take this dream to fruition?
- How much are you willing or able to do to fulfill this dream?
The answers to these questions must be truthful and honest. People can become wrapped in their dream and create an emotional investment in it that blinds them to important components of reality, costs, and risks, that pursuing said dream may entail. Making sure those parts are realized beforehand and planned for accordingly is a part of the course of life coaching, and can save a lot of stress and losses down the road to success.