From Heart Ache and Struggle to Living A Dream

For years my darling husband, Josiah, struggled to find meaning and purpose in his life. It was frustrating for him, (and me!) because he knew that I guided so many women through exactly this challenge! (But you can’t coach your own spouse. Just don’t.)

Then he had a breakthrough that was so obvious it startled him.

Since many of you don’t know Josiah, I’ve invited him as a guest writer, during our crowdfunding campaign, so you can learn about the man and vision behind The Balch Hotel, from his blog at Abundance Hospitality,

Let’s Inspire your Dream into Being,

3 Steps to My Dream …You can Do It Too!

I’ve pretty-much lived my life by going with the flow. This worked when I was younger because it allowed me the chance to see new places and learn new skills. However, at a certain point I began to realize that I’d ‘been there, done that’. I needed something more…but I didn’t know what.

Since finding the answer to this “Big Question” I recognize 3 steps I took to make it happen.

Figure out what you really want to do and what mark you want to leave on the planet.

My journey began a years-long quest for “my purpose,” involving various career searches, counselors and spiritual visioning. After much frustration and many tears I felt as though I hadn’t really accomplished anything. Then I finally made a breakthrough that has set me on an incredible trajectory, while working with a life coach.

All that time I had been looking inward, trying to find answers, when the answer was apparent from the outside looking in: my dream is to own and run a sustainable, socially responsible hotel. (The image below shows how obvious the answer was.)

I had run hotels for many years and I have enjoyed creating outstanding experiences for travelers. The part that left me unfulfilled was that my efforts just made some owner or corporation richer. I found little “purpose” to doing business for business sake. If I could run my own hotel then I could add that extra piece that had been missing for me.

Get clear on your dream. It could be right under your nose.

Tell someone your dream.

Realizing my dream appeared more challenging because it seemed so far out of reach. Many people that I shared this new purpose with, smiled and said, “That’s nice, but so what?” They reflected my belief that I couldn’t actually pull this off.

Gratefully, my wife and a few friends were supportive of this emerging (and seemingly unrealistic) vision.

The trick here is to set the idea of your dream in motion, by sharing it with others. This keeps you focused on how to make it happen. And make you accountable for taking action.

Do something a littledifferent than your normal.

It was clear that knowing my purpose was not enough. And telling folks about it, while helpful for motivation, was still not going make it happen. So, I began taking a few small actions: searching for hotels for sale and figuring out how much money I would need in order to make a down payment, even though it seemed unrealistic.

My wife helped me to take another action which led to where I am today. Instead of just talking about hotels, Claire suggested a trip to actually look at some properties. Next, we assessed our assets and saw a creative way we could afford to move towards this dream. It was her inspiration that began the process that leads me on the edge of my dream.

Here is the key: do something, anything, different from your daily routine, which moves you towards your goal.

A New Reality

Now I am on my way to creating a partnership with a beautiful hotel in a wonderful small town near Portland. It has been an incredible journey and there’s a great deal more work involved, but I love it.

One of the challenges of reaching for great heights, is sometimes you need help and one of my lessons has been to reach out. I am in that position right now.

As I’ve been telling folks about my dream and providing updates, they often ask how they can help. We put together a crowdfunding campaign so you can help support our dream. Simply click here to go to IndieGoGo and help Bring the Balch to Brilliance.

So far we’ve raised $1600 in our first week! Thanks to our co-hearts in this collaboration:Heather, Meadow, Kate, Cathy, Mary and Rob, Celeste, Elizabeth, Mar, Lion, Andy, Mary W, David, Tina, Dawn, Theresa, Michelle, Mel, Doranne, Joel, George, Mary and Greg!

PS: We LOVE seeing the contributions coming in with your name on it. AND we LOVE when you share this with your friends or community. (If you’re someone who’d like to do that in a bigger way, we can make it super easy for you. Email me.)

If for some reason the link is broken, go here: http://igg.me/at/balchhotel