Photo credit: www.fashionmagazine.com

“I’m gonna have to charge you a little more rent than Vivian…because I’ve got this beauty course I’m looking into and I’m not gonna be there that much, you know? ‘Cause you just can’t turn tricks forever. You gotta have a goal. Do you have a goal?” Pretty Woman, 1990.

Remember these lines from Pretty Woman, when Kit DeLuca/Laura San Giacomo tells her new roommate, after Vivian/Julia Roberts finally gets her Prince Charming Edward/Richard Gere? I remember (and I should, I only watched the movie about 1,000 times) nodding every time, in between two bites of sweet bread, thinking: “Yeah, she’s right, you gotta have a goal, you know!” And while I could have said a thing or two to Kit about her way too short mini skirts (ok, that was part of the business), or given her virtual high-fives on licking the glass display in the hotel lobby (remember that?), the one thing I’ll always remember her for is that “goal-digger” phrase…

I’m a proud goal-digger. I love setting goals, plans, checklists, to-do lists, not-done lists, how-the-heck-am-I-gonna-get-this-done lists, all kinds of lists of things to do, explore, visit, say, not say, not do…And while it all looks great on paper, the reality can be quite different: half of the stuff doesn’t get done, the other half requires much sweat, tears and sweet bread (available at your local Portuguese bakery, great with butter).

It’s a demanding process, this whole goal thing!

It requires you to take a good, hard look at yourself, hold yourself accountable, and keep striving despite obvious obstacles and carb-loaded temptations (remember, carbs are not the enemy). Yet at the end of the day, really, even the most spontaneous, fly-by-the-seam-of-my-pants gal out there, has some kind of goals, like being happy, or owning as many vintage shoes as possible (don’t judge)….

My question to you, yes you, today is: What are your goals? Where do you want to be in 5 years (and don’t just think of it as an answer to your next interview question), tomorrow, tonight? What are you doing here, beyond taking space and eating sweet bread (this one is a self-inflicted shot). Are you working on those dreams you had as a little person singing to the tunes of  Whitney Houston’s “I wanna dance with somebody” (and did you dance with him?), or did you carefully park them in some back alleyway in a corner of your busy mind? Or are you following someone else’s dream, someone else’s idea of who you should be?

What Are You Doing These Days?

Kit De Luca was right when she said “you can’t turn tricks forever”. While some of our tricks don’t involve standing at the corner of Hollywood Boulevard, somewhere, somehow, if we’re not digging hard enough for the goals that really make us who we are, we still run the risk of standing at the corner of  “Could’ve” and “Should’ve” Boulevard, a few feet away from “Hell yeah, I did it” Avenue. And while I may not know much, I know that’s not the stop I want to be standing on when it’s all done and over with…How about you?

What are your goals? Share with us some of the goals that kept you going over the years in the comments, or send us an email at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!

PS: To all my goal-diggers out there, keep digging….

And yes, Pretty Woman turned 25 this year, and I just dated myself, darn….

Happy Sunday!

The Corporate Sis.