I’ve always been a guy who sets goals. But lately I’ve been thinking about whether I’ve given the goals too much power in my life.
For example, if I’m living a good life, my family is happy and healthy, and I’m doing something I love, does it make a lot of sense to beat myself up because I haven’t climbed Kilimanjaro yet?
The point isn’t that setting goals or creating a bucket list is a bad thing. But are we approaching it with the right attitude? A few weeks ago, I suggested that maybe it’s time to let go of outcome-based goal setting and focus on the process. Do we really benefit by making ourselves miserable over whether we’ve checked something off a list?
My suggestion got some interesting feedback, but one comment from a gentleman name Larry caught my eye:
I am going to ask a question that few people ask: what if you get to your long-term goal and it did not seem as fulfilling as you would have thought? Finding meaning in your life and goals is the fundamental question. The means to get there are rarely obvious when the goal was set and the path that gets you there often changes along the way. The sacrifices made along the way may also not be obvious to you until you reach the goal.