Why You Should Dream Big to Have a Great Life
Time is a tool you need to have on your side
If you want to be a top writer, a top producer in your company, or start your own business, you need to create big goals to get there. Once you decide what you want to do, you need goals to help guide and keep you focused. Without goals, you’ll be unfocused each day doing a million different things at once. There are many definitions of a goal but Cambridge Dictionary said it best.
Goal — aim or purpose
Successful people create goals because they want to have a different future. These goals are the driving force that helps people to focus their time and effort. Anyone can sit and do the same thing day after day. Successful people take it a step further. They want to change their future.
This article will focus on three areas that you need to have a great life. All three areas can be applied to whatever you do. Whether you’re a writer, a salesperson, a business owner, or anything. These areas will help you to focus on the true tasks that you need.
The three areas covered are:
- Life is short
- Create Big Goals
- Work hard to achieve your goals
Life is short
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
Muhammad Ali
If you haven’t noticed, time goes by very fast. When you’re in your 20s, it feels like you have so many more years left. In your 30s, you’re trying to create your life. As you’re in your 40s, you wonder how did life go by so fast? In a few years, you’ll be 50 years old.
Life goes by very fast. You have 365 days in a year. As you get close to ending 2020, you think this has been a long year with the coronavirus. This one virus has caused so many changes in your life as well as society. So many things changed in the blink of an eye.
This year, you may have lost friends or knew people affected by the virus. Many people lost their job or had to work from home for the first time. During this year, did you do learn anything new? This was the best time to take advantage of the issues and make something positive out of it.
Instead of complaining or watching a repeat of the coronavirus on the news day after day, you could use the time to write or start a new business. This year gave you plenty of time to think. What you did with your time was important.
You could waste the year watching movie after movie on Netflix or Disney Plus. Or you could use the year to create a new habit. This year, I started writing more. I previously wrote as a paid writer for Quora but looked for a different platform this year.
Since then, I have made some money with Medium and made a lot of connections, some of who have helped me be a better writer. As for movies, I still watch movies but made it a habit to write before watching a movie. Sometimes you have to outsmart your inner desire because you know you’d rather enjoy sitting back and watch a movie or two.
Now, this new venture has become a good habit courtesy of the coronavirus. My day job gave me fewer tasks to do this year and I was able to use that time to write more. So it was a win-win all around.
If you have thoughts about starting a business and didn’t think the time was right this year, this may have been a great time to start. Don’t worry, it’s not too late to get started. The next six businesses you may have heard of. These are all started when times were tough just like it is now.
- Hewlett-Packard (1937–1938 Recession)
- Hyatt Hotels (1957–1958 Recession)
- Microsoft (1973–1975 Recession)
- Electronic Arts (1981–1982 Recession)
- Mailchimp (2001 & 2009 Recession)
- Uber (2007–2009 Recession)
Most companies don’t start off big and actually start off under the worst conditions you can imagine. Each of the companies highlighted above started under the worst conditions during their time. Hewlett Packard started in the aftermath of the Great Depression of 1929 which could be compared to the recession of 2007 when Uber started.
It wasn’t until a few years after the recession when Uber started to make its way taking the place of taxis. Uber is still working through various regulations and laws but most businesses take years to show a profit. It will be interesting in a few years to see what businesses got started in 2020.
Create Big Goals
Don’t be afraid to fail big, to dream big, but remember, dreams with goals, are just dreams.
Denzel Washington
It’s great to create goals but sometimes our goals are not big enough. Having a big goal means you won’t be able to accomplish the goal in a week or two. If it takes you a year or more to achieve your goal, that is probably a big goal.
There is nothing wrong with small goals but will small goals change your life? A small goal may be to earn $50 a month as a writer. Earning $50 is okay but it will not change your life. Earning $50 may be enough to fill up the gas in your car or enough to cover your Starbucks every day for a week.
This is why you need to create bigger goals. Big goals change your life. Having big goals can help you to lose weight, gain more strength, or to run faster. Small goals are good but won’t change your life unless they’re related to big goals.
A big goal can seem overwhelming but if you have small goals under the big goal that could be what you need. If your goal is to earn $10,000, then create smaller goals that lead to $10,000. Earning $10,000 over 12 months is $833.33. If you create smaller goals to achieve $833.33, that is more achievable than $10,000.
A small goal supporting your big goal seems more realistic. Once you have achieved your $10,000, then increase your goal to $20,000. Now your smaller goal is achieving $1666.66 a month.
Goals don’t have to be so hard that you’ll never achieve it. But when you break the goal down into smaller goals, this make your goal easier to achieve. This little mind trick can be a great tool for you to use.
Work hard to achieve your goals
Everyone’s dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard.
Serena Williams
If you want to achieve your goal, you have to put in the time to achieve your goal. All the hard work you put in pays off. No one becomes an expert overnight.
If you look at tennis player Serena Williams, she didn’t become a professional tennis player overnight. She started to play tennis at the age of four.
Serena as well as her sister, Venus, learned to play from their mother and father, Oracene and Richard. At the age of nine, her family moved to Florida to continue her training under the eyes of Rick Macci. After a few years, her father pulled his daughter out of the training due to racial discrimination from other parents. Her father trained his daughters himself.
Serena was ranked number one for women’s singles tennis. She has won 23 Grand Slams, the most of any active tennis players, and the second-most of all time. Serena spent many years of hard work and practice to achieve these goals.
The same applies to you as well. You most likely won’t be an overnight success as you get started. You have to put in the hours and hours of hard work.
If you’re a writer, you need to put in the hours of writing, editing, and publishing. You’ll have some good days as well as some bad days. Each day will get you closer to achieving your goal.
If you want to start a business, you know this takes time. There will be the formal legal documents you need to file and get approved. Next, you’ll have to build your base of customers.
Just as Serena spent years learning to play tennis, you’ll have to spend years learning to hone your craft. Make the time count and continue to refine your work. You have to be prepared to put in the time and effort.
As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Rome took many years to be created as you witness the historical artifacts that are standing. The Colosseum, Pantheon, St Peter’s Basilica or Vatican City all took years to create. Now they are among the historical artifacts of the world that draw in millions of visitors a year.
Wouldn’t you like to get millions of views a year on your work? It takes time to build your brand, create your project, and expand your empire. None of this will happen overnight. You need to set your big goal and put in the hard work to achieve your goal.
Do you have a goal you are working toward?
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Tom Handy is a top writer on Medium, former Quora writer, and father of two kids. He retired from the Army and sits on several non-profit boards. You can find him on Twitter @tomhandy1.