079 What those you love sacrifice for your dream (and what to do about it)

Dreams have a cost. And some of the biggest payers are those you love. Here’s what you can do about the sacrifice those you love are making for it.

This week’s Inspire Me quote is from business leader Guy Kawasaki:

“Work the edges. What really matters happens at the edges – that is, where one surface or material meets or changes into another – is a key principle of architecture. The action is not in the centers or areas of sameness.”

Pursuing your dream is working the edges. That’s where tension lies. A natural tension exists between pursuing your dream and preserving comfort. Everyone has different risk tolerance and safety levels, principally around our time and our finances.

You may not be fully not aware of the sacrifices others make for your dream, particularly if your an optimist.

What can you do about it? Here are some suggestions:

• Acknowledge the sacrifice. Be specific in how their support advances your dream.
• Engage the power of volition. Sacrifice is made worse when there’s no choice in making it. Look for ways to make your dream a shared dream.
• Seek help to identifying choices. Things are seldom either/or. Our spouses can see things in different ways than we can.
• Stay within your stretch. Think journey not last step. Trial periods are good ways to warm up. Don’t overextend.
• Build off-ramps. These are the circumstances that may occur by which the experiment or journey is redirected.
• Stretch for their dreams too. Sacrifice is not one-way. Stretch yourself by engage in supporting their dream too.

This week’s Challenge Me:

Ask your spouse or significant other about their dream and how you can better support them.

Resources mentioned or related to this podcast that may be helpful to you:

• The light and dark forces of optimism, Episode 75 discusses some of the traps optimists face.