3 Ways to Help Your Spouse Support Your Dream

There is an audio version at the end. 

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One of the most common situations I hear about in the dream chasing journey world is a spouse that isn’t supportive. This can happen for a number of reasons, but more often than not, I find it’s something that can be avoided. We don’t help the situation with certain actions we take.

Now, it can be something from your spouse’s past that has their guard up. Maybe their parent was an entrepreneur and the business failed. Going through that might have soured them towards the whole entrepreneur thing. Maybe it was a family friend.

Often, though, we push our spouse away from our dreams by working too hard or spending too much money trying to get our dream off the ground. I have talked to many dreamers who have spent thousands of dollars on training or coaching, yet are still stuck.

Here are three ways to help your spouse support your dream. A supportive spouse can be the difference between success and failure in your journey to create freedom.

1. Stop Treating This as a Hobby

If you are in the camp of money spent, what are you doing with the information you paid for? Sure, there are a lot of hype-filled programs, but even those can teach you one strategy you can use. We don’t lack for information these days—it’s everywhere—we lack in applying that information in our life and business.

If you have paid, it’s time to stop messing around and apply what you have learned. Even if you have never paid for training, it’s time to use all the information you learn each week on blogs, podcasts, and videos. You know what you need to do. You have read the books that have laid out the plan clearly. It’s time to take action. If you take action on 10% of what you know, the results will surprise you.

Treat your dream as something more than a hobby. Get serious about everything you do. Treat your time as an investment and charge accordingly. Respect how important your health is to your life and take care of it. Have a clear focus on what you will be doing every day with your “dream time.”

Make some money. At the end of the day, money is what makes this more than a hobby—unless you’re starting a non-profit. You can talk all you want, but if you’ve spent thousands and made zero, your words won’t mean anything. Treat this as a business and show your spouse the potential by generating some income.

2. Have a Plan and Clearly Communicate It  

If you want your spouse to support your dream, you must have at least a clue what you’re doing. When I say, “a plan,” I mean a step-by-step plan to make it from where you are now to your dream. Do you want to be supported by freedom in your work? OK, by when? How will you transition? How much money will you need to make?

Show your spouse that plan. Sit them down and show them how serious you are about executing that plan. Show your family the plan and ask them for their help. The better you communicate, the more they can start to understand and get excited.

3. Don’t Put the Dream Above Your Family

Your dream has to fit into your life, not your life into your dream. The life part has to come first, which means your family. I realize you want to work hard, but not at the risk of turning your family away from your dream. Always put your family first.

It’s hard work chasing your dream. It’s even harder when you have a spouse that’s not supportive. It doesn’t have to be that way if you show them why this is important and how this will benefit your family. To wake up every day and do what you love is amazing and worth the struggle.

Help your spouse understand the dream and back up what you’re saying with action. This week, have a conversation with your spouse. If they are already resistant, take it slow. They love you and want you to succeed, so it’s always an option to get them behind you. It starts with you getting clear and having a plan.

Audio version:

How have you gotten your spouse to be supportive of your dream?

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Photo: Flickr/ Nathan Colquhoun