Is there something in us that causes the desire to set goals? No matter how big or small, there’s always something we want to achieve. Sometimes that something is just getting up and getting out of bed in the morning and that’s perfectly okay. However, what causes such a desire? What causes us to hold on to it, breathe life into it and make it grow stronger? How do we push it to motivate us to achieve our short term or long term goals? That sneaky little word — determination comes to mind; it’s sitting at the back of your brain waiting to be ignited.

When I used to work at a tile place on a commission based salary, I remember my manager creating a board in the break room. He asked us about things that we really wanted – something we needed money for. He then printed pictures of those things and posted them at the top of the board, wrote our names underneath and the cost of the items. With each sale we made, he would marker in the bar and we would watch it go up and up, closer to the top of the board where our goals could be reached. The concept was quite simple – we needed to sell in order to achieve our goals. However, in the grand scheme of things, this was really quite brilliant.

I think these simple sales techniques can be key in helping to achieve short term goals or long term goals in our everyday lives. The idea is very much the same and easy as 1,2,3:

  1. Start with a list of what you really want (create a board with pictures if you have to),
  2. Figure out what you need to accomplish your goal (time, money, motivation?)
  3. Start breaking it down into steps (it’s not so daunting a task when you take small steps toward achieving a larger goal)

You can make this method as complex as you like but these are the very basics; simply because in reality, our short term goals are just a small collection of our long term goals. If you turn small “steps” into “goals”, you can reward yourself every time you achieve one of your “goals”. You will see that it’s so much more fulfilling and provides more motivation when you are constantly rewarding yourself for achieving those goals. Oh and trust me, every small step is one to be celebrated as long as you are progressing and if there are set backs, so what? I read somewhere once, don’t worry so much about the time it takes to accomplish something. The time will continue to pass anyway, so why not keep trying?

I’ve been centering my existence around appreciating the things I already have in my life but always striving for more. I want to: Run a successful event planning business, run a successful blogging business, and make sure my family is taken care of. Yes, these are goals, but can you ever really check something like that off as completed? A business is always changing with the market, evolving and growing and so you have to grow with it. This is part of the excitement albeit challenge, isn’t it?

So then, what separates a “dream” from a “goal”? I have dreams of creating a multi-billion dollar empire in which I’ve created jobs for everyone on earth, which has successfully ended world hunger and we have advanced so for in medicine that all the fatal diseases will be cured and people will learn how to live and love one another and there will be no more hate. Everyone will be happy and our earth will flourish. Yes, I dream, but coupled with reality, my limits, the current limits of society and a knowledge of the way things are, I know this is just a dream. And hey, if you have BIG BIG BIG dreams and you are sure you can achieve them, then by all means, go for it and I will cheer you on. Just be weary of overstretching your reach because you will fall. And it is much harder to get back up from such a thing. You will though, you’ll get back up, you have to. We need more people who are willing to go the extra mile because even the impossible can become the possible and you never know what ripple effect you will create or who you will motivate.

I’ve mentioned before that the meaning of my name runs right along side perseverance. Na’ilah is one who attains, who is successful. I try to live up to it in every way, shape, and exceeding form. By no means is this ever easy. They say success isn’t supposed to be easy, that you have to work hard at it, push yourself and reach new limits. Whatever you do, just don’t give up. Small steps turn into mini goals which turn into milestones, which turn into success which makes dreams become reality.

Love ♥ Always,

SuhailaXO