Why I don't believe in goals

I don't believe in goals.

Not in the sense that they don't exist. But in the sense that they don't do us any good. I hate this phrase "You have to set yourself goals to reach them."

I think it creates a harmful superstition that we have any idea or influence on what will happen tomorrow - which we don't.

So all that these goals do is limit our perception, make us inflexible to change, and ultimately stress when they don't work out.

Life is unexpected and uncertain. To set goals is like trying to do origami with water - you can't just put it in your desired shape.

But here is what you can do:

Think about the best things that have ever happened to you: The partner you met, the friend you made, the promotion you got...

You didn't "achieve" those things because you put them on your 5-year vision board and visualized them daily (creepy).

Most of them occurred seemingly out of coincidence and when you LEAST expected them to happen. Why?

Because you focused on doing the right action that very day, regardless of any goals or speculative predictions for the future. Think about it:

You didn't get the promotion because you visualized it every morning. You got it because you focused on the job before you.

You didn't find your partner because you wrote it in your action plan for 2023. You did it because you went out today to meet new people.

We don't know where we will be in two or even five years (if we're still here at all). Damn, I don't even know where I will be in 4 months!

This can be a stressful thought and equally an existing one. But at least I know one thing: I can try to attract a future I like by focusing on today.

I have no goals, no place set in mind where I ultimately want to end up. But that's ok; we don't have to know where to go to finally arrive.

But I know that if I focus on doing the right actions today (taking care of body, mind, friends, and family), I will likely end up somewhere pleasant.

Where am I going to be in 5 years?

Hopefully still on the way to the next five years, focusing on the step in front of me rather than the one 5km ahead. And learning to do so.

#goals #flow