Goals - Overrated?

[PRMoon]

Goals give you something to believe in. They give you hope for something better then what we have in the present. They motivate you to work harder. They motivate you to train smarter. Goals are the life blood of almost every sucessful person i've ever met. He who has hope has everything in this world.

I'm not saying we shouldn't enjoy our lives for the moment but if you dont' think life won't pass you buy without a second thought i you don't have some kind of plan for your life, then you're no better then the rest of the homeless people standing on the freeway exits as I go to work.

 

[Effington]

A wise man once said, "Life is what's happening while we're busy making other plans." You should have goals and objectives, but don't get so obsessed with them that you constantly worry about them. Enjoy the ride.

By the way, the above phrase was from John Lennon.

 

[BluEyes]

(for man, evolved to chase after food that was running away)

Why do primates(98% genetic match to humans) eat bananas, leaves, and berries?

And why is our jaw and tooth structure that of an herbivore?

I'm not a vegetarian, I'm just tired of the uneducated sheep telling people that humans were pack hunting carnivores akin to the raptor or the wolf.

 

[Mistic]

I have a question for Mistic though. If you don't set goals, then how do you avoid becoming complacent?

Complacency comes from routine. Routines, or systems, are what is needed to reach goals.

Life is such a dynamic, rich experience, all by itself, how could I become complacent. I jump on opportunities that arise, and the outcome is always fresh and surprising. I find goals, with fixed outcomes to be to limiting and routine.

 

[Mistic]

"action by inaction" which means doing the stuff without conscious effort.

Actually, actionless action is one of the most misunderstood concepts. It means that you are completely connected with what you are doing, that you are thinking of nothing else. You are one with the action.

You have all experienced. Maybe it was shooting a basketball, or skateboarding, but when you executed the move, you did it so naturally that it seemed to happen all on it's own, and you were just a witness, You thought, "how the hell did I do that?" At that moment you felt what mastery is - actionless action. It is super-conscious, and far beyond the goal mindset.

Interceptor understands this very well, and this is how some of us approach women. We don't try to "get" women, we just do it naturally.

 

[MooseGod]

...looks like all the good answers have been taken.

I pretty much agree with the ones who say it is good to have goals, but also to enjoy where you are right now.

Living for the moment will only get you so far...the same man who stated "I'm gonna get my kicks before the whole sh!thouse goes up in flames" died at 27. (Jim Morrison, BTW.) But look at him--he had accomplished more in 27 years than most people do in a lifetime.

Living for your goals will only get you so far too...it sounds great being rich and successful, but at what cost? Life isn't about busting your ass 24/7/365. You could have an entire empire, but running it might cause you to miss out on watching your children grow up or something equally as meaningful.

Really, life is an experiment. There is no "control group." And there's no "one size fits all" solution for happiness and fullfillment. Everyone's got to see what works for themselves. More than an experiment though, it's a journey. Not a long, arduous death march sort of journey, or a laid-back walk in the park sort of journey, but more of a Lewis and Clark kind of "I don't know what's out there but hell I'm going in" kind of exploration. I think it's important to think of life as a journey because a journey always entails a forward motion, no matter what the setbacks or prolonged lingering for one reason or another.

There may be peaks, valleys, deserts, oases, forests, tundra, hostile natives, and cities of gold...but it's going to make for one hell of a story when it's all said and done.

 

[TheHumanist]

Actually, actionless action is one of the most misunderstood concepts. It means that you are completely connected with what you are doing, that you are thinking of nothing else. You are one with the action.

You have all experienced. Maybe it was shooting a basketball, or skateboarding, but when you executed the move, you did it so naturally that it seemed to happen all on it's own, and you were just a witness, You thought, "how the hell did I do that?" At that moment you felt what mastery is - actionless action. It is super-conscious, and far beyond the goal mindset.

Interceptor understands this very well, and this is how some of us approach women. We don't try to "get" women, we just do it naturally.

Actually that was what I meant. I should have used that sports analogy of being in the zone to illustrate it. When I said Action by inaction, doing without conscious effort, I meant performing the action without thinking, being in the zone rather than trying to think through the act.

 

[Señor Fingers]

Some really great responses here guys. I am impressed!

Personally I find that anything in my life that requires discipline or deals with business goes hand in hand with goals.

A simple goal might be "today I will do 150 push-ups" or "This month I will net 3000 bucks" Neither are set in stone, but I find it helpful to shoot for SOMETHING.

On the other hand, there are certain facets of my life that do not work so well within the goal-driven paradigm. Getting good with women is a perfect example, because you really need to be in the moment and feel out the situation to respond effectively.

I had tried to force myself to do XX number of approaches and that just didn't work out, because you really have no control over how many girls you will see that will inspire an approach. As a result my approaches were forced and totally unnatural.

It's like going out with your friends - you don't say to yourself "I'm gonna make 5 jokes tonight, have exactly 4 beers and stay out till 3AM."

On other fronts I find it most helpful to intersperse both mentalities. For example I really enjoy listening to and making music, so I make it a personal goal to set a certain amount of time per week to just zone out and do my thing. When I finally am in that mode, I don't think about anything else and time flies by in an instant.

Call it satori, actionless action or whatever, but it is definitely real. There are times when I get so deep into a mix that I listen to it later on and think to myself "Wow, thats really hot. I did this?" It's almost like you are channeling something, or someONE else.

Another thing worth noting: We all have different energy levels. Some of us are self-starters, others are more laidback and some are just practically sleep-walking their way through life. In this respect, it seems like this may be another case of subjective measures.. goals will simply work better for certain people in certain circumstances than others.

Either way, I believe that the key is not to directly link happiness to our goals. It is very easy to fall into the trap of "Life sucks, if only I had a million dollars/supermodel GF/private yacht"

Happiness is not found in any of those things. (I've seen miserable people with all 3) It is found in one's ability to be grateful for what he already has.

 

[Latinoman]

You don't set goals for EVERYTHING in life. It is about balance as everything else shall be a by-product of your main goals in life.

1- Goals in my career

2- Goals in my personal life (to be happy and healthy)

3- Goals as a parent (to raised my children into becoming good contributors in this society)

Those are examples of some goals worth having.

Now, if my goal in my personal life is to be happy and healthy...shouldn't I see the by-products of that particular goal everyday? Now...how do I manage to have a happy life? By NOT associating myself with poisonous people.

That's an example.

 

[Mistic]

Some really great responses here guys. I am impressed!

Personally I find that anything in my life that requires discipline or deals with business goes hand in hand with goals.

A simple goal might be "today I will do 150 push-ups" or "This month I will net 3000 bucks" Neither are set in stone, but I find it helpful to shoot for SOMETHING.

On the other hand, there are certain facets of my life that do not work so well within the goal-driven paradigm. Getting good with women is a perfect example, because you really need to be in the moment and feel out the situation to respond effectively.

I had tried to force myself to do XX number of approaches and that just didn't work out, because you really have no control over how many girls you will see that will inspire an approach. As a result my approaches were forced and totally unnatural.

It's like going out with your friends - you don't say to yourself "I'm gonna make 5 jokes tonight, have exactly 4 beers and stay out till 3AM."

On other fronts I find it most helpful to intersperse both mentalities. For example I really enjoy listening to and making music, so I make it a personal goal to set a certain amount of time per week to just zone out and do my thing. When I finally am in that mode, I don't think about anything else and time flies by in an instant.

Call it satori, actionless action or whatever, but it is definitely real. There are times when I get so deep into a mix that I listen to it later on and think to myself "Wow, thats really hot. I did this?" It's almost like you are channeling something, or someONE else.

Another thing worth noting: We all have different energy levels. Some of us are self-starters, others are more laidback and some are just practically sleep-walking their way through life. In this respect, it seems like this may be another case of subjective measures.. goals will simply work better for certain people in certain circumstances than others.

Either way, I believe that the key is not to directly link happiness to our goals. It is very easy to fall into the trap of "Life sucks, if only I had a million dollars/supermodel GF/private yacht"

Happiness is not found in any of those things. (I've seen miserable people with all 3) It is found in one's ability to be grateful for what he already has.

This is one of the most well rounded post this far.

 

[Effington]

When going out, I've many times thought to myself, "I'm NOT having more than xxx beers," so that would be like a goal. I don't ever remember thinking, "man, I wish I was more drunk last night!"