Silly Forms of Inspiration: McDonald's Mocha Frappe

Today, while out driving with my wonderful husband on our anniversary, I came to an interesting conclusion regarding why I would like to earn more money from my freelance writing. My inspiration doesn't come in the form of a yacht, a new car or even a dream vacation. My strange, non-essential inspiration is a McDonald's Mocha Frappe.

Those sweet, iced-coffee drinks seem to call my name each and every time I drive past a Mickey D's. I long to hold one in my hand and taste the ice cold, caffeine filled goodness. Don't get me wrong, having more money to buy things for my children and family is definitely my number one motivator. I want to give my children more than I had. I want to be able to constantly fill all of their needs and at least part of their wants. My children deserve all that I can manage to give them and more, which is exactly why their mommy blogs and writes...and often doesn't go to sleep until 3 in the morning.

Bu,t having silly little frivolous wants doesn't hurt either. I think that sometimes we need to give a little bit of selfish thinking a try to motivate ourselves. We should all make a list of the tiny little things we want out of life, as well as the big ones. A virtual checklist of needs and wants can help you take a longer look at what you want to accomplish and why.....even if some of the items might seem silly to other people.

I think sometimes we set unrealistic goals for ourselves or goals that are too long term. We put "buy a new house" or "save for my son's college education" on the list and work our butts off to achieve those lofty goals. The problem is, we don't set any smaller ones that we can see ourselves achieving on a daily basis. We all need goals that can be accomplished quickly in order to motivate ourselves to work harder toward the bigger, seemingly more unrealistic goals.

I challenge you to make a list of goals, small and large, and place it on your refrigerator or your bathroom mirror or anywhere else you will see it several times a day. If you, like me, want to be able to treat yourself to a McDonald's Mocha (or Caramel, I'm not a hater) frappe once a week, put that on the list. If you want to be able to buy your kids an extra pizza once a week or get a box of that pretty stationary you love to write letters with, that goes on the list too.

Once you see yourself bringing in enough extra money to do those things, do them and then check them off your list. You might be surprised how that iced coffee drink may just motivate you to want another one, which might motivate you to work extra hard at adding a few hundred dollars to your kid's college fund. The point is, don't over look the small items of inspiration--they can lead you to the larger ones!