It’s said that dreams don’t die loudly. They die slowly and silently.
This is something I reflected on during my holiday last year when I took 7 weeks off work and spent most of that time with my extended family.
During this time, I also got a chance to visit one of my clients’ business. I had worked with her through the startup period, but I never got to see the physical business until then.
When Mercy came to me in 2015 with the dream of setting up a kindergarten, she was quite apprehensive about starting a business. She was also sceptical about coaching and didn’t see how this would work for her.
However, she took a step of faith and signed up for business startup coaching in January 2016. Her school opened in September 2016 and celebrated its second birthday this year.
I’m very glad I got to visit the school during my holiday because seeing Mercy’s dream in reality gave me a lot of food for thought.
Mercy was also one of the people I interviewed in the Celebrating Women in Business series. Her story, which is aptly dubbed Fear Kills a Lot of Destinies, is a great background read for today’s article.
Her business startup and growth journey is motivating for women who are thinking of moving from employment into business. In the interview, Mercy also shares her advice for those who are already in business.
Giving your dreams your all
I visited Mercy’s school with my sister and we both went silent for a few minutes as we drove out. We had been shown through the school and even had a look at the gardens. Mercy had also shared her challenges, successes, lessons learnt, and future dreams as we walked around.
My sister and I had been silent as Mercy showed us around and told us her story. The silence wasn’t because of what she was saying. It was mainly because of the lessons we were both picking from her.
As we drove away, I spoke first and told my sister, “WG, I’m wondering…have we given our dreams our all?” She nodded and told me that she was thinking the same thing.
There was more silence as we ruminated on the implications of our thoughts. And then we got talking about the fact that we were allowing our business dreams to die. We were not giving them our all!
Going back to the beginning
As I said earlier, that experience gave me a lot to think about. I don’t think Mercy was aware that she was giving me a challenge just by living her dream.
While I had taken big strides in my business, I realized then that I had also allowed my original business dream to die. Life got in the way and it was easier to work with the things that were bringing quick money.
This meant conveniently ignoring the things that would take time to set up, but would shape my business into the original dream. Unfortunately, the activities that bring in quick money don’t bring as much fulfilment and satisfaction in the long-term!
After that visit, I took a big step back and committed to go back to the beginning and kick-start my business dream – the one I had when I started coaching.
The visit was in August 2017 when I was still a solopreneur. One of the results of giving my dreams my all was taking a step of faith and moving from an established business to Biashara 360…a startup.
This was a risky endeavour that came with a lot of challenges. At the same time, it brought satisfaction, fulfilment, and success that went far beyond anything I’d have accomplished if I had stayed small.
So many times we allow life and our circumstances to steal our dreams. We start off strong and then get bogged down with challenges and stuff that creeps up along the way.
With time, these challenges consume all our time, energy, resources, and efforts. The dream slowly slides away…and dies silently.
This happens to all types of dreams and not just business dreams. Is it happening to you? Have you given up, or worse still, settled for less than you’re worth?
What are you willing to do for your dreams?
It’s one thing to talk about the things you want to be, do or have. It’s another to actually take action on them and keep refining the results until you get exactly what you want.
Do you have one dream that you know will change your life for the better when you finally achieve it, but you’ve set it aside?
Or did you start working on the dream and got sidetracked or the dream suddenly seemed too big for you to handle?
Are you willing to give it your all?
Are you willing to fight for your dream(s)?
The year is ending and with it comes the close of 12 months of your life. That is time that you won’t get back. But, you’re still alive. And this means that you have a chance to rekindle your dreams, especially the BIG ones that make you shiver and feel really scared.
It takes time and consistent action to achieve our most desired dreams. Also, the bigger your dream is, the more effort and commitment you have to give it. And the bigger the dream is, the more satisfaction and fulfilment you get when you achieve it.
Working on your dream or letting it die is a choice. Which choice do you make today?
Your turn…
Have you had an experience that gave you a wake-up call regarding a forgotten or neglected dream? Share with us in the Comments below.
(Photo by Ryan Riggins on Unsplash)
[This is an updated version of an article that was first published in the New Dawn Coaching blog].
Sometimes we get stuck on our dreams and goals because we don’t know what to do about them. If this is you, then I invite you to sign up for the Goal Setting for Peak Performance class. This class, which comes once a year, will help you turn dreams into goals. You’ll then set goals for 2019 and create a step-by-step action plan for achieving them. You’ll also learn how to motivate yourself to take action on the goals, even when you’re very busy with other work. Click the image below for details.
