“You can’t do everything.

You can’t do or know it all, at once.”

And, this is what I told when someone asked me, if she’ll be able to cross off an ambitious goal off of her list.

The person who asked me this question is a smart, excited participant in a coaching program that I am running – where I teach professionals who are already doing well either to pivot or increase the pace of their growth, basically to create their own dream job and get ready for it.

The point is, everything and anything we do in life has trade-offs.

• For growth – we trade sleep/ doing nothing time with learning time. 
• For getting lean – we trade mindless eating with being mindful about it (the first one is more fun for most)
• For achieving a big goal – we trade tinkering here and there with staying focused on one thing for months and years despite the temptations, challenges, and occasional bouts of boredom.

The question we should ask ourselves is: “Whether I want to take the risk and trade current pleasure with some pain, with future pleasure?”

When we attempt something worthwhile there is always a risk that it might not work. That should not stop us from taking action and attempting it with integrity. 

You’ll only know whether something will work or not after you have chosen one thing over another and put in some effort into it.

Of course be smart about your choices and trade offs and see that you can live with the outcomes whatever they are. Think of the worst that can happen. In most cases, you’ll see good results.

This acceptance of consequences is the emotional cost you pay to chase your dreams.