We read and hear so much about the importance of having goals in life, but do we really need a goal?
People have dreams, but not everyone does something about them. Most people live an average life without any major goals or even small goals. Why is this so? To pursue a goal, you need a strong ambition. The goal must be so important that often, you must be willing to sacrifice a lot to get it.
Achieving goals requires that you step out of your comfort zone, which is not convenient for most people.
Most people do not aim high. They don’t find it important, and that’s okay.
Is It Important to Have Goals in Life?
It is important to have at least one goal, but it does not have to be something big. It can be something simple, and it does not have to do with position, money, or possessions.
What do you get when you have a goal?
- Having a goal in life makes you more focused and determined.
- When you have a goal, you have a purpose when wake up in the morning.
- A goal keeps you active, alive, and expectant of success.
- A goal makes you a doer instead of being passive.
- Focusing on a goal gives zest to life and awakens curiosity and the desire to do better.
- Life becomes more interesting when you have a goal.
- When you have a goal and are determined to accomplish it, you awaken inner strength and motivation.
- Sometimes, the goal is not so important as the way to it, the experiences, the knowledge, and the insight you gain.
You and Everyone Have Simple, Everyday Goals
Actually, even people with no goals, who live a simple life, have goals. This might seem strange, but it is not.
A goal is not always something that you plan, write down, and work intentionally on achieving it.
Most people have very simple goals, such as:
- Arriving to work on time
- Buying a pair of trousers, a shirt or a purse
- Go for a walk a few times a week
- Eat a certain kind of a cake at a certain bakery
- Maintain good relations with friends
- Having love in his or her life
- Having enough money to pay the bills
- Going on vacation once a year
You might not call these goals, but they are.
Are Goals Important?
Goals are important for the person who wants to achieve them. They might not be important, except the person who is striving to achieve them.
Sometimes, after achieving a goal, there is no satisfaction and no sense of victory.
We imagine how it would feel after achieving our goal, and expect to feel and enjoy happiness and victory. This keeps us striving to accomplish our goal. However, when we achieve it, we do not always get the happiness and satisfaction we imagined we would get.
This means that we have to be absolutely sure that we want to spend the time and effort to achieve this goal, before starting to work on it.
Are people with goals, happier than people who do not have goals? Not necessarily.
There is life force within everyone and everything, which tries to express itself in the world. Look at a blade of grass, which grows and finds its way out through a crack in a rock or pavement. It must have a very strong desire to grow. Does it achieve anything? No, it is just the life force striving to express itself.
It is the same with people. There is a life force trying to express itself through them. Sometimes, the life force expresses itself strongly, and the person set goals and strives to achieve them and to make a mark on the world. Sometimes, the life force expresses itself more mildly, and the person lives a simple, average life.
Goals are not always important by themselves. It is the desire to act, be active and do things. It is the life force, which wants to express itself, and the result is not always important, only the action, the doing.
Big or Small Goals
You ask why you need a goal in life. If a big goal means to you owning a company, getting a Ferrari or making a trip around the world, well, not everyone has this goal in mind.
A goal means something much simpler for most people, and they will be satisfied with much less. Most people don’t want and don’t need big goals. Their goals are usually to have a good job, enough money for their needs, a place to live, health and love.
These are simple, ordinary goals, and that’s fine. If you love your life as it is, there is no need to feel bad for not having big goals.
Goals do not only mean achieving a position and honor and having more money. Your goal could be to get good grades at school, go to the gym three times a week, learn a foreign language, learn to bake a cake, or learn to dance.
Your goal could also be to change a habit of yours, learn to meditate, or just be happier.
