Case study: Brent and Amanda
Brent and Amanda’s marriage was in danger. Brent worked full-time, and spent his evenings and weekends working on a small electronics invention business in his basement workshop. Meanwhile, Amanda was a 24/7 stay-at-home mom with two young children. Although Brent’s inventions supplemented the family’s income, Amanda resented the fact that she had no help with the children.
In their first planning session, Brent and Amanda established that they both valued educating their children, spending time as a family, and financial security. Brent’s part-time electronics business was a source of great pride and passion for him. Meanwhile, Amanda expressed a vivid and compelling desire to purchase her parent’s cottage, where she dreamed of creating happy memories with her children.
After the first planning session, Brent and Amanda took a careful look at their finances, and confirmed that they had little in the way of savings with which to purchase the cottage, and not enough income to increase their savings substantially in the near-term. In addition, despite the strife it was causing in his marriage, Brent remained very committed to his side business.
In the second planning session, Brent and Amanda were able to create numerous “what if?” scenarios that could help them get closer to their goals. For example, what if Brent could use his business to significantly increase the couple’s income? Would this allow them to buy the cottage? And would Amanda then be more supportive of all the time he spends in his basement workshop?
After the second planning session, Brent and Amanda discussed their options, and reached some very important conclusions. Amanda decided that she could be highly supportive of Brent’s side business, if it would take her closer to the dream of buying the family cottage.
In the implementation session, Brent and Amanda created an action plan to achieve their goals. In essence, Brent would commit himself to making his business more profitable, and Amanda would give her full support to this goal. In fact, she would actively encourage Brent to hurry down to his workshop and make his business a success.
Brent and Amanda implemented their plan immediately. Amanda was no longer resentful of the time Brent spent tinkering, as it was now part of their shared vision. Nearly two years later, their perseverance paid off. Brent was able to sell one of his inventions for a large lump sum of money, plus a stream of future royalties.
Brent and Amanda became the proud owners of the family cottage. What’s more, Amanda was using some of their new-found income to hire a part-time nanny, which gave her the break she needed. Next, the couple decided to fulfill their shared vision of sending their children to a top private school.
Because Brent and Amanda’s goals were specific and clearly tied to their personal values, they were motivated, focused, and able to expend their energy purposefully. In contrast, had their goals simply been reduced to financial objectives, Brent and Amanda would not have been able to experience the same level of support, success and lasting change.