Julianne Schwenke
Yellow Executive Business Coaching

As a business coach, I am often asked about the difference between dreams and goals.  In short, a dream may make you think, “wouldn’t it be nice one day if …”, and goals are dreams with a deadline.

 For example, you may say that one day you’d like to travel in space. I’d call that a dream. However, if you have a two-page plan and action steps to make US$250,000 by December 2015 to buy a ticket on Richard Branson’s 2016 space mission, you’d have a goal.

 I encourage my clients to make their goals SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-framed.

 I also ask my clients to consider what they may need to give up in order to reach those goals.

 In our example above, the cost of the space fight is not just the ticket price. The extra commitment to earn US$250,000 will have effects on other aspects of your life – possibly reducing time with your family, energy for exercise, or your availability for interests, friends and hobbies.

 If the financial and non-monetary price you will pay to achieve your goal is affordable to you, then you know you have a well-thought out goal.

 If achieving your goal requires you to act against some of your values, such as putting family or health first, you might need to reconsider either the goal, or what’s most important to you right now. There is no right or wrong with values or goals … just actions and consequences.