The $10,000,000.00 Question

When I asked my client, Amanda, what she would do if she won a $10,000,000.00 lottery prize, she quickly answered " I would move to Hawaii and sit on the beach all day." Wow, sounds great doesn't it? When I next asked her if she could see herself still sitting on the beach all day in five years, she raised her eyebrows and said " Gosh, probably not, I'd be bored."

When I questioned Amanda further, she realized that what she would really like to do was live in a sunny climate, have a job that she enjoyed and sit on the beach when she wanted to. She also discovered that even without a lottery win that dream was a possibility.

By utilizing our 5 point F.O.C.U.S. program we worked together to make Amanda an active dreamer. The F.O.C.U.S. program is an ideal guide to discovering your dream and taking action steps to realize that dream.

F-Find a Dream-Amanda and I did that by exploring what she would do with a huge lottery win.

O-Occupy Your Dream---When Amanda actually occupied her dream, being exact about the details of her future life, dreaming in specifics, she was able to modify the original dream to be more realistic.

C---Create a Plan to Live Your Dream---We created action steps that Amanda could implement immediately. Researching sunny climates to find one that appealed in all ways, was the first of these steps.

U---Understand the Evolution of Your Dream---Thinking realistically about how each step might impact Amanda and those around her helped her move ahead in an evolutionary, not revolutionary manner.

S---Sense the Reality of Your Dream---As Amanda completed action step after action step, she felt a sense of empowerment and the satisfaction of completing steps on the road to her dream life.

Amanda's journey was not short, nor was it easy. There were obstacles and roadblocks along the way, but as we planned her action steps we could clearly see those obstacles and create ways to get over/around them. Today Amanda is living in a sunny climate and has made a career change that allows her the freedom to "beach it" when she wants. By first identifying her real dream and then creating action steps to realize that dream, Amanda became an active dreamer and was able to live the life she dreamed.

(c) 2004 Beth Densmore

Beth Densmore is a Personal Life Coach who offers support, inspiration and motivation to those who are in transition and want to achieve a goal. For more information and more free articles like this, visit her site at http://www.newfocuscoaching.com.

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Coaching Information:

Related Articles

5 Minute Morning Balance Ritual
"3 Questions, 5 Minutes a Day: Make leaps towards greater balance in one single week with the Shicka Boom 5 Minute Morning Balance Ritual"By Laura Lallone, Certified Life CoachThis article is dedicated to a woman that I've never met and probably never will. Tall with dark, dark hair, she was perfectly manicured in a tailored suit with high-heeled pumps.
The Enchantment of Tribes to Belong To
I am remembering and have a desire to share with you, a beautiful story told to me by a young lady. It was the end of the World War II and her dad was returning home.
Coaching: Change Made Simple
Here's a story that I think gets at why we have such difficulty with change.I was 8 years old and my parents gave me a dollar to go to the toy store with my best friend and his mom.
How to Deal Effectively with Anxiety
Every human feels anxiety on occasion; it is a part of life. All of us know what it is like to feel worry, nervousness, fear, and concern.
How Do You Build Momentum in Your Business and Life?
A few weeks ago at a "Leadership from the Ground Up" conference, Donald Trump spoke about the ingredients for success. I found his topic on momentum very intriguing.
Sorry Dr Maslow, I Think You Got It Wrong
In the 1950s Abraham Maslow published a book entitled " Motivation and Personality" in which he outlided his now famous Hierarchy of Needs. Over the years since its publication Maslow's work has gained wide acceptance as a tool in understanding human motivation.
Top Ten Things to Build a Bridge and Get Over
God must love Top Ten lists because she made so many of them. They crowd my Inbox daily.
Unhook From The Perpetual Progress Grid
I have been a member of a group called the Women in BusinessConnection (WIBC for short) in Cambridge, MA for about fouryears. We get together for lunch meetings once a month.
Discovering Your Passion and Purpose
"I can't seem to discover why I'm on the planet.""What is my purpose here? I know there's something I'm supposed to be doing, but I don't know how to find out what it is.
The Adventure Attitude
Of the 60,000 people who lived to be over 100 in the United States in 2002, the single most important characteristic they had in common was their ability to be positive in the face of change. They were able to look at things objectively, put them in perspective and move on.
Life - Is It Just An Illusion?
It's a well-known fact that electrons and atoms move at the speed of light, technically flickering in and out of existence. In other words, half of the time we are actually not here.
How Coaches Find Clients Online
At a recent networking meeting Jana asked for a recommendation for a public speaking coach. She was starting to speak in front of audiences, and wanted to polish her presentation skills a bit.
4 Steps to Successful Goal-Setting
Successful people have always had clear, focused goals that guide them to greatness.It took Thomas Edison thousands of attempts and thousands of failures over many years to invent the electric light bulb, but he new exactly what he wanted, and his goal kept him going until he achieved it The rest, as they say, is history.
Body Language Speaks Louder Than Words
Has it ever occurred to you how much you are saying to people even when you are not speaking? Unless you are a master of disguise, you are constantly sending messages about your true thoughts and feelings whether you are using words or not.Studies show that your words account for only 7% of the message you convey.
We Are Exactly Where We Choose to Be
The idea for this month's newsletter came from an unlikely encounter: I recently had lunch with a new friend named Rick Rockwell. You may remember him as the bachelor from the first-ever reality TV show, "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?"During our meeting, Rick described some of the knowledge he gained from doing the show, along with a few of past his experiences in business, ethics, and of course, primetime romance.
Being an Emotional Victim
None of us like to think of ourselves as victims. The term "victim" brings to mind a pathetic image of a person who is powerless.
Attitude
What makes attitude so important? Why not just learn some "seductiontechniques" to get the girl? The answer is simple: learning techniques (orhaving expensive clothing and cars) without improving your attitude is likewrapping a cheap gift in expensive wrapping paper. It still looks expensiveon the outside, but when the girl "unwraps" you, she'll find out that youwere faking it all along.
Attention! Thought Crossing! - Or, The Secret of What's Between Your Ears
What are you thinking - right now? 'I'm reading your article!' you say. Well, take a little bit of a closer look.
Training is Not the Same Thing as Exercising
What it takes to GROW!In almost every workshop we deliver, we try to teach the principle that the mind is a muscle. What does this mean? Well, your mind and really your whole life operate on the same growth and strengthening principles as any muscle in your body, and almost everyone misunderstands what it takes to make a muscle grow.
Truth About Life Coaching School Accreditation
With life coaching becoming "the" career choice in this millennium, many of you are seeking the right choice for training and certification. Hopefully this article will answer some of your questions.