Why delay and place dreams on hold? Why live a life with dreams and passions unfulfilled.
I was assisting a client through a goals setting and life priorities process. When it came to hobbies and pastimes, she rated this lowly. She explained that she had no hobbies, no outlet, but remarked that she had always had wanted to learn how to paint. She said to me “I guess it will have to wait till I’m 65, when I retire”. At the time she uttered these words she was 40 years old.
Why wait?
Time, money, daily life stressors. There was enough to deal with on a day to day basis. How would she take time to foster a “selfish” pursuit? This rationale is used by a lot of us. Everyday, over the years, until life floats past so quickly. It for me, is just not an outcome that is acceptable for any of us.
I pushed further with my client. We looked at all of her life areas and then the idea was to create a map of her dreams and wants and desires for her life. The aim of this was to find intersections, synergies, and to look at ways and strategies to bring her life into balance.
The discovery around her priorities revealed that family time was her number one focus. So combining a hobby with family time was the only way to make anything happen before my client turned 65 in 25 years time!
Every year, in the summer holidays, the family spent 2 to 3 weeks at a beachside holiday resort. They rented a cabin. It had become somewhat of a tradition. It was the same destination. They’d started camping initially, but better finances over time meant better accommodation. It was a cost that was budgeted for each year. The kids would swim, fish, lounge around. There were lazy afternoons just watching the clouds (hopefully not too many on a summer holiday) drift by.
There were 3 weeks of opportunity here.
What if, the beachside town offered more than just a family holiday spot? It did. Like any community there was a diversity of people and a diversity of activities. There were artists in this community. All had pieces for sale in all variety of forms such as direct or through the local Saturday market. Some of them offered tuition. A couple were located really close to the holiday rental cabin the family used. And one, one offered accommodation, a family sized unit on the lower floor of a property with the artist residing in the unit above, with the corresponding proximity to offer art lessons (oils, pascals, watercolours) at really any time my client wanted. The cost, all up, combined with the accommodation, slightly more than the budget, but attainable.
Intersections of life areas is a wonderful thing.
4 years later, I was privileged enough to be invited to the opening night of a local art exhibition showcasing 6 artists in their first showing. My client was one of them. She showed 15 beautiful landscape pieces. They were images of the family holiday location. A sunset, the beach, the clouds of a thunderstorm rolling in. 5 sold on the night. She was beaming. I will never forget that look on her face.
A dream fast tracked and brought forward by 21 years.
Imagine what is possible with clarity of what you want, how it fits within your world and what’s important to you and where the intersections lead to collisions. That is what goal setting around your life areas and your priorities is all about. The possibilities emerge and become real, and accessible.
Right now you can download the life areas and goal setting worksheets in the “tools” area of this site. If you do purchase them, not only will I run a 1 hour goals session with you (Zoom or Skype), but I wil also provide you with a discount for the upcoming book to the value of your purchase price of the worksheets.
Why wait?
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