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For someone who used to write one every week, this certainly feels very weird.
A lot has changed for me in this last year. I got engaged, got married, and started a new “day job” working as a lawyer again. Because I’m working as a lawyer more, I slowed down my coaching practice quite a bit.
All of the changes feel really good to me at this stage in my life. But 10 or 8 or even 6 years ago, they might not have.
When I started my coaching practice in 2008, I had really big dreams. Dreams of reaching millions of people with a message of body love, making body love a household name, empowering thousands of people to love their bodies and get out of their own way when it came to self approval and their own happiness. I dreamed of working for myself forever; never having a boss or a day job, making a living from coaching.
Under different circumstances, it might have all worked out. Through constant promotion and word-of-mouth, I managed to make about three times what the average life coach made per year. Unfortunately, that was never enough for someone who lived in the NYC area and still had crushing law school loans. I was always almost making it work but I could never stop working. Even taking a week off was difficult for me. Living like this for 6 years was extremely stressful.
As time went on, my dreams changed. I love coaching and I hope to do it forever, but right now, I actually love my day job too. I work with really nice people and some of the nicest lawyers I’ve ever met in my life. I feel challenged and appreciated. I feel glad that I don’t have the option to work in my pajamas anymore. I feel relieved that I don’t need to keep up my social media presence quite so much. This past Chanukah/Christmas, I felt good that I was able to buy nice gifts for my friends and family without worrying about how I was going to also pay my rent in January.
And the thing is, I did achieve some of my old dreams. I probably reached a million people (or, at the very least, a few hundred thousand). I worked with thousands of people as private and group coaching clients. “Body Love” is indeed a household name in certain households, and I see it EVERYWHERE on the internet.
So in the spirit of my old blog, I’d like to leave you with something to think about this New Year. Do your big dreams “fit” anymore? Do you have some new dreams that you want to connect with? Have you maybe achieved some of your big dreams in ways you haven’t thought about? Let me know in the comments section below.
Happy New Year!
Golda is a certified holistic health counselor and founder of Body Love Wellness, a program designed for plus-sized women who are fed up with dieting and want support to stop obsessing about food and weight. To learn more about Golda and her work, click here.
Wow, thanks for sharing! I’ve taken a lot of leaps over the last few months, and it’s so comforting to hear if it doesn’t work out…and that it doesn’t mean I’m a failure!
This is such a good post, thanks. Sometimes it can be very difficult to admit that our big dreams don’t fit anymore. This is to some extent the conditioning of society, as we are encouraged to focus on that special skill, special dream and stick to it.
However when they no longer fit, it can often be because we have evolved on some level. Thanks, Rolandas
Wow, this article was so insightful. Great read!
It can be really stressful to keep up a social media presences all the time. And I completely agree with it being OK to change your dreams. I change mine all the time, and every time I feel like I take a bigger step towards my own definition of happiness. Just because you’ve moved on to something else, doesn’t mean that you will leave any of the good stuff behind – you’ll be sure to take that with you! :)
It’s okay to change your big #dreams http://t.co/N1Zf2gq77B #Body #Love #Wellness
You had a lot to do las year :). I wish you to keep your good shape. And yes, health and nutrition are very important.
It’s Okay To Change Your Big Dreams — Body Love Wellness http://t.co/HvYiMI4PwY
Lovely post Golda! I used to like the idea of dreams and goals but things changed when I came across this quote: “Losers have goals. winners have systems.” It basically means that you need to actually have a plan for how to get up off your lazy butt between the goal planning and achievement.
The idea of “chucking” things into micro-goals or milestones keeps you motivated and keeps your eyes on the prize. The time-boxing part is also so crucial otherwise like Parkinson’s Law says the time it takes to complete a task will fill into how much time to give it (paraphrasing). So if I knew that I had only 1 week to practice for a 10K I would have a much more productive week than allowing 1 month to plan for the run.
Between time-boxing and chucking one major 2015 goal can be 52 SPECIFIC micro-goals that you would complete each week. If its a goal that can be completed in 1 month then make a daily micro-goal. If its a goal that you have one day to complete–use the Pomodoro method (its the best technique that I learned in 2014). Thanks for sharing Golda.
A powerful message. Sometimes our dreams change and that has to be ok.
Thanks for this Golda! perfect timing for me.