The Simple Life Lessons Game.

[Astreja]

If you have a dream, don't expect other people to facilitate it -- and if someone expects you to drop everything to work on his dream, run like hell.

This.

The nice people in your life will tell you, "Oh that sounds great" the more compassionate ones will say "Wow good for you good luck!" The people who really love may even help you achieve your dream but very few will fully support you and believe in you.

There's also a dark side to personal attainment, which I think is driven by envy and resentment.  There are people who:

• Say that they're on board with your plan, but insinuate little negative comments here and there that undermine your resolve -- or blindside you with a harsh comment just as you're making progress.
  
• Get upset when you actually spend time working towards a goal, instead of wallowing in the Swamp of Complacency with them.
  
• Outright sabotage you by wasting resources that you could have used.
  

I experienced much of this with an ex.  I made the mistake of helping him finance a business, which tanked because he didn't have a clear vision and kept farting around with the way he did things.  When I lay awake at night, trying to figure out how to make loan payments, he told Me not to worry about it.  When I got sick and tired of not getting anywhere in life I got a Business Admin degree part-time in the evenings and then went on to get some computer certifications.  He resented those successes, so I got a bottle of bubbly to celebrate getting that elusive MCSE (thereby guaranteeing a job opportunity with a hefty pay raise) and drank it by Myself, grinning like a Cheshire cat all the while.  I later kicked the bum to the curb with Extreme Prejudice.

And then things got really interesting.  After evicting Whatsisname from My life I went out and did a whole slew of things that I had always wanted to do, including getting a driver's license and taking lessons in just about anything I found interesting -- Violin, clarinet, sax, tap dancing, Shotokan karate, Irish Gaelic, Pilates, and now Icelandic.  Life is good (pats professional-grade B flat clarinet, bought for cash a couple of years ago).