What it takes: Resources

 

Resources

Every dream requires resources. Resources are the inputs you need to get the desired outcome. They could take different forms. Key resources include time, money, skills and talent. If you have these four, you are well on your way to reaching your dreams.

Let’s break it down a little bit.

Time

An investment in time will be necessary to move you from your current station to your desired end. You must be willing to give your time to the task at hand to turn the dream into reality. Businesses hire people to help them work on their desired goals. You are paid as an employee in exchange for your time. If the business owner had a way of carrying out their tasks without the need of your time, you would not have a job. Billions of people around the world are employed to give their time towards the pursuit of certain dreams. If you want to be a great musician, you will spend hours upon hours in practice to achieve it. According to those who study mastery, it is said that you need at least 10000 hours of deliberate practice to become a master at something. No goal worth pursuing will be done without a significant investment in time. In some instances, you will need to buy other people’s time to successfully actualize your dreams. If you do not have what it takes to invest some time for your dream, you can as well forget it. You must be deliberate in creating time for your dream because there are many competing interests pulling you in different directions. Since you do not have time for everything on your mind, you must decide to spend the time you have on your highest dreams to the exclusion of others.

Money

Dreams also have a money component. Different dreams have different requirements when it comes to money. While money is not everything, a lot of our dreams get derailed because we failed to plan for them financially. Jesus shares a story about a person who wants to build a tower and in it he says that it would be foolish of him not to count the cost prior to starting. This is because without a clear understanding of the amounts involved, you are likely to stare at a stalled project. In relating money and time, it is good to note that money is what the wealthy use to buy the time of others who work for them. You need enough to compensate others for their skills and time. You will also need money to buy all the other inputs towards the realization of your dream. Think about a farmer who dreams of a bumper harvest. He must think about leasing land if he doesn’t own his own land. There will be the cost of tilling and preparing the land for sowing. At the point of sowing he will need either men or machines or both. Depending on what he is planting, he will determine the kind of fertilizers he will need. Apart from that there is weeding, top dressing and many other necessary activities before the harvest is ready. All those are inputs towards that expected bumper harvest. Question is, what inputs does your dream need. How many of them include a monetary component? It must be factored in as you do your planning to ensure you succeed.

Skills and talent.

What skills do you need to realize your dream? Beyond having people available, there is the matter of the skills they bring to the table. If you don’t have people with the right skills, it is going to be difficult to achieve your goals. The loftier your goals, the more you need to bring on board specialized skills and talents. If you dream of putting together a world class medical facility for example, you will need to hire the best brains in the medical field. This doesn’t come cheap. You must think of skilled laborers as part of your inputs. Have you audited your dream to see what kind of skills you need on board? Have you acquired those skills? If not, you need to get them on board as a matter of urgency because without that, your dream will struggle to come to life. It doesn’t matter the size of your dream, there will be need for some skill if you will bring it to life.

What other resources do you think you need to actualize your dreams?