Thinking out loud:
Goals Are Overrated
…or in extreme cases, downright dangerous.
It is sad that the word “goal” has been linguistically inflated to the extent that it has become a euphemism for the common mental flirtation with the unattainable.
Goals have been reduced to downright wishful thinking; the erroneous belief that one’s wishes are in accordance with reality. Only they are not.
We were raised to “wish upon a star”, to “visualize the podium”, to “pursue our goals with raging passion” and to “stop at nothing and for no-one but the finish line”.
“Try hard enough and anything is possible!”
I should know, I’ve been there myself.
Only problem is that it’s a lie…
It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt
If “anything is possible when you try hard enough”, then when you eventually fail — or worse, when you fail repeatedly because you will “stop at nothing and for no-one but the finish line”— then it goes to say that you just didn’t try hard enough, did you?
Make the mistake of internalizing the aforementioned or other similarly derailed, false theses and when the inevitable grand failure will come in your life, the internal conflict between the relentless wants and the harsh reality in your face will be severe and, depending on the individual, even border being unmanageable.
Instead of focusing on achieving, let’s rather just focus on the actual making and enjoying it while doing so.
I have long believed that goals are an overrated concept. In the end it’s all about taking action daily and being smart about it so that you direct your efforts towards whatever you actually feel driven to pursue and is aligned with the general path you abide by.
Not having goals sets you up to perform at your best since you are unshackled from the notion of judgment, internal or external. Whatever then becomes the product of your actions will, by definition, be the most authentic manifestation of your true self. The more your actions attain such a refined result, the more value the product of your actions will hold in the long run for the world that comes to meet it.
Take a moment (a rarity these days), take a couple of nice, big, deep breaths…
Take a look back and listen to yourself. Observe the topics, habits, actions, towards which you have always genuinely gravitated. Pinpoint the essence that these share and why it has always drawn you. Discover that which resonates with who you are and make a project out of it!
If the former conditions apply, then you are sure to wake up each day fired up to make it, build it, spend yourself for it. By definition.
Whatever that might be which you will find along the way, letting go of the fixation on goals and instead focusing your efforts on doing your best at a project you love, is your sure-fire way to not only discover your true self, but to also project it into the world packaged as a product, as valuable as the fire that burns within your heart.
In the end it all boils down to this:
What people need is drive to DO, not goals to REACH.
Begin by doing and everything else will eventually fall into place.
* Remember that this remains a personal opinion, and albeit seemingly valid as of the time of writing it, it is no more than that. Take it for what you will.
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Thank you for your attention.
-- maninak
