8 Issues with Goals
Society has become very goal driven, but goals, unlike what most think, have many issues.
Here are the 8 issues with goals:
Winners and losers have the same goals - every Olympian wants the gold medal - goals are not the differentiating factor.
Misguided goals - we tend to make incorrect judgements on what makes us happy leading us to work towards the wrong goals.
There is too much specific investment - if we work towards a goal, we have to make sacrifices, as nothing happens independently of other things, which may mean we don't end up on the right track and unknowingly sacrifice important things.
Goals result in momentary change - when you achieve a goal it only changes your life for the moment. A messy room will get messy again.
Our sense of self is too closely tied to goals - once we achieve the goal, we are forced to de-identify with it. Furthermore, we become so committed to pursue it at all costs rather than admit defeat.
Goals restrict happiness - through defining a narrow idea on what 'success' looks like we become limited. As well as this, we are always going for the next milestone - I want to lift Xkg at the gym, now Ykg etc.
Goals encourage short term progress but not long term thinking - when people have met their goal of running the marathon they tend to stop running.
The end point is not usually what we expect - when Alexander the Great saw the breadth of his domain, he wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.
Whats the alternative to goals. It's direction.
Direction is the answer. Having the direction 'to get healthier' instead of specific goals such as running 5km weekly, lifting in the gym and having a diet of so many calories, opens up so many more opportunities to meet that overall direction. We don't become limited by options and we can adapt and change direction far more easily, such as having days where we eat more, or not squeezing in a run.
