My Personal Goals and Desires

When one of my teachers first asked to write down my big reasons why I was in school and wanted to be successful: I was like “oh yeah! I know exactly what I want!” and I started listing down: Bentleys, mansions, lots and lots of money. My teacher looked at me, and he laughed, and he said “whatever works for you.” At that time I didn’t know what he meant, but it wasn’t long before I realized what he was trying to say.

I had to wake up at 6 every morning, I had to discipline myself to break my old habits and get out of my comfort zone, and I started to question whether I wanted to do this anymore. I started to realize that when times were hard, I didn’t feel like I needed the Bentley anymore. I was pretty comfortable taking the bus every day, why do I need to spend massive amount of money to travel to the same locations? I don’t need a mansion, what would I do with all the extra space? I don’t need all the extra money; I already make enough to get by. Then what did I do next? It’s not hard to tell, I was starting to quit.

So, here is the key thing I learned: don’t just desire the MATERIAL things in life. I mean, it is okay to want those as well but I realized why it needs to be more than just that. Most people are sick of working their dead-end jobs where they work 40 hours a week, and make barely enough to pay their bills. They can’t stand it anymore and that feeling of frustration and disgust is enough to keep them going on a daily basis. Some people have a passion for what they want to do, or who they want to be in the future, and just the constant reminder of that great future lifestyle keeps them focused, and that’s great too!

Here is my big reason why: to retire my parents. My dad used to work a very comfortable job in another country, and my mom never had to work a day in her life. They gave it all up to come to Canada so that I could get a better education. When we came here, they both started working the typical 9-5 jobs that would pay minimum wage and it killed me to see them like that. See, I love my parents enough to get up at 6 every morning and do whatever it takes to show my gratitude and let them put their feet up and relax, because I knew that even when times got hard, I would NEVER give up on my parents. I would NEVER quit.

Here is what I know about the no-quit attitude: we would never have a star like Michael Jordan if he didn’t live with the same mindset. He was cut from his high school basketball team and he cried himself to sleep for days. Do you think he had a strong enough desire to get back on his feet and keep playing basketball? Then you have the famous Beetles. They were turned down from record labels over and over, while being told that they don’t have a good sound. Can we agree that it was their no-quit attitude that helped make them into who they are today? Thomas Edison had teachers telling him that he was too stupid to learn anything, and Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper company because he lacked imagination. I think we can also agree that: sometimes when professionals give feedback, they have no clue what they are talking about.