Aida Al Busaidy: Why Life Milestones Give Us That Giddy Feeling
Communications strategist and storyteller Aida Al Busaidy muses on both considered and incidental milestones…
It is said that to get far, you need to have a good support system. It’s also said that to reach ever further heights, you need to have a strong foundation and the right building blocks to reach for the skies. What exactly are you reaching for? Milestones and moments in our lives that represent something significant.
The thing about milestones is that you have to have goals to set them. I’m not just talking about the end game but the smaller steps that are required along the way, too. Once you reach them, what happens next? Do you create yet more goals and tick off yet more milestones? Do you do it alone or with others? Does it serve my own purpose or the greater good. I know these all sound like very existential questions but there is a point, and I promise to get to it.
Let’s take this column as an example; it commemorates my 18th contribution to Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, though it feels like I just began writing for the title yesterday. I pinch myself when I pat myself on the back and say every time: “Girl, you got back on that writing game.” But the funny thing is, I didn’t have it as a goal. I’ve probably mentioned this more times than I should, but two decades ago I graduated with a degree in journalism and writing has always been a passion project for me. So when I got the call – or in this case the email – to join the team, I thought, “Wow.” I didn’t set out to achieve this but my career has definitely set me up to be here – and do this; I had milestones that unconsciously brought me to this place. But having said that, this begs the question of what future milestones do I set myself in this path? Will being a Bazaar Arabia columnist help me achieve that in some shape or form?
I look at milestones in three different facets of my life. The first, in my personal life, which includes birthdays, occasions, babies and their birthdays. The second is more to do with my profession (I am a workaholic) and if you work in a place that structures your goals and KPIs for you and you just fill in the blanks, that’s 90 percent done for you. I am fortunate to have that ecosystem so I know what my short-term and long-term goals are. Third, are the unspoken goals, like that bag you always wanted, or the car or the weight you wanted to reach. Milestones give you that giddy feeling because you’ve always had it in you to get or achieve them but perhaps the timing or the reason wasn’t right.
Milestones can range from small to medium to big; the point I want to get across is that is doesn’t matter if you had something previously listed as a goal – although it does help to be structured in your approach – or unintentionally got to a place where you discover that it was a lifelong dream. If you are 85 per cent closer to achieving it than you were six months ago, it’s never too late.
Photography by Efraim Evidor, Styling by Imogene Legrand, Make-up by Sarah Saya.
Special thanks to One&Only The Palm.
From the Harper’s Bazaar Arabia April 2025 Issue.