The pursuit is air that helps flame of your passion burn hotter allowing you to add increasingly larger pieces of fuel (larger dreams or goals) to your “fire”. Just as you must fan flames of your small fire to make it grow, so also you must take necessary steps consistently and purposefully in order to achieve your dream or goal. You’ve got to “work” your plan.

Take away air and your fire quickly “smothers” leaving you with just a pile of sticks. Take away pursuit, and all you’re left with is a pile of unfulfilled dreams.

That’s basic fire building. One more advanced step in process is using a catalyst to help fire catch and spread more quickly. Compounds like gasoline, pure oxygen or phosphorus are such catalysts. Can you have a fire without using them? Sure, but it’s sure lots easier to start one with them.

A personal or business coach can be catalyst that allows you to achieve your goals and dreams much more quickly and easily than you could without them. A coach takes spark of your passion and through powerful questions and requests, accountability systems and ongoing support helps your dreams “catch” more easily, and “burn” more fervently. So what’s your “burning desire”? Do you have passion? Have you made a plan? Are you pursuing your goal or dream purposefully? You must have all three in order to see your dream or goal “catch” and be able bask in warmth of your accomplishment.

Copyright © 2002, Monty J. Sharp

========== Vision to Venture, LLC is an executive coaching company dedicated to providing an interpersonal approach to high performance Executives, managers and work teams. Our highly effective and balanced approach to leadership development, teambuilding and action learning get both business related as well as human results. Visit us at http://www.workteamcoaching.com

What to write about I know of a woman who wants to be a comedian. In her journal she writes a joke a day. Another person had been stuck for several years writing her novel. She started to journal about writing her novel and gained focus she needed. She finished her novel within a few months. Another person tracks every penny he spends in his journal.

The beauty of keeping a journal is that it is your book. You get to choose not only when to write, but what to write.

How much I write in my journal Journaling is about what you want to express that day so, you can write as much or as little as you want - A word, a thought or two, pages, you choose.

Remembering to journal Place your journal where you will see it every day. I do not mind taking vitamins, but if I do not see them I do forget to take them. Place your journal on your nite stand or where you have coffee in morning. I keep mine on my desk, where I will see it everyday.

Part of keeping a journal, for me, is skipping a day, or maybe four. I usually write every day, but some days I do not. I forget to write or I do not get to it, or I have nothing to say that day. Skipping a day is a part of keeping a journal.

Keeping your journal safe You may want to have a special secret place for your journal so no one else can read it. You can keep it in a locked box, or tuck it away. You can also ask people around you not to read your journal. It is private and only concerns you. As you journal about specific events or people you can also use code words for those experiences. It is important that you feel safe writing about your thoughts so, think about how you can create that for yourself in your own environment.

With passage of time, we gain a different perspective. Time is a healer. What was once hard, or unbearable, can now make more sense, giving us a clearer picture. Recording and tracking our lives, by keeping a journal, can actually bring relief, clarity, joy, and laughter.

Copyright 2001 Doreene Clement All Rights Reserved

Doreene Clement is the creator of The 5 Year Journal, a journal where you can write about your life in one book for 5 years. You can tour the book at www.the5yearjournal.com dkcomni@aol.com 480.423.8095