Until Your Goals Are Achieved, Don’t Stop Pushing.

It was Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO, British archaeologist, military officer, diplomat, and writer who said "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."

Let me give you some examples to drive home my point; A woman born in an Afghan Refugee Camp is flying around the world to inspire other women to follow their dreams.
Who is she? Her name is Shaesta Waiz, 29,  the First Female Certified Civilian Pilot and the Youngest Woman to fly solo around the world.

She started her epic flight in a small, single-engine plane from the US where she now lives and recently arrived in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Ms Waiz was born in a refugee camp and travelled from Afghanistan to the US in 1987 with her parents and five sisters to escape the Soviet-Afghan war. She grew up in an underprivileged area of Richmond, California, and said it wasn’t until she discovered aviation that she started thinking about going to college and having a career.

In her word “When I was a little girl I thought maybe I would go to college, but I would get married at a young age and have a family. But then I found something that I really loved and that’s flying, I was willing to give it all, today it’s an incredible feeling to be the pilot of my own aeroplane and to fly wherever my heart desires. It’s a passion that I really enjoy, that I protect, and that I want women from Afghanistan and all ever the world to experience as well.”

She founded a non-profit organisation called Dreams Soar and wants her flight around the world to help inspire girls and young women to pursue science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) education.

Ms Waiz is the first person in her family to earn a bachelor’s and a master’s degree. She says her message is that you can come “from any background, you can have any set of challenges but what’s really important is that you have to dream, to dream big and work hard and go after it”.

Listen to this, Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to influence the world. Everyday, do more, or build on the activity of yesterday so that you move closer to your goal.

Even when faced with rejection like Sambo below, understand that it is only a feedback – a call for you to go back to the drawing table, or in some cases, a call to go in another direction.

Sibongile Sambo, a South African woman was rejected when she wanted to join South African Airway as a flight attendant,   because she did not meet the minimum height requirement to become one. Then she decided to do something incredible. She sold her car, took her mother's pension money and started her own business - Africa's First Female Aviation Company.

Today SRS Aviation has become a households name not only in South Africa but also Aviation Industry world wide. 

Listen to Sambo's optimism in an interview with CNN Feb 3, 2016, "What I'm proud of about our company is that we have managed to penetrate the male dominated industry," Sambo adds. "Aviation is growing in Africa. We are going to grow with the growth in Africa."

Bottom Line Is, Keep Pushing Forward.