🤔 What Is The Goal? 🤔

I've been thinking about an important question: What is the goal?

Why does it matter? Not doing anything with your life feels terrible. A goal gives you direction for actions you should take.

If you wanted to be a pro athlete, you have an idea of what you should and should not do.

If you had no goal then you are aimlessly wandering through the world. With this logic, I decided to figure out what the goal is.

At first, I didn’t know. If you don’t know the goal, how do you find it?

I’ll explore this question and see if I can find a good answer. Maybe it will help you too.

I started thinking: what makes a bad goal?

What if I said my goal was to become a drug addict? That doesn’t sound like a good goal. Why is that?

The outcome of that goal is harmful. It seems that a good goal should have a positive outcome.

What else makes a goal good? I remembered something from Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

He wrote about people in concentration camps during World War II.

Some pinned their hopes on being free by Christmas or spring.

These dates came, but they were still stuck in the camp.

When that happened, people lost hope. Some even ended their lives because they had nothing left to hold onto.

Frankl didn’t tie his hope to a deadline. He dreamed of reuniting with his wife.

It didn’t matter if it took a month or ten years. He stayed hopeful because his goal was not tied to time.

This made me wonder: are deadlines bad for goals? Think about it. You set a goal and reach it by the deadline.

What happens next? You feel empty until you find another goal.

What if the key is choosing a goal that you will never achieve? That way, you always have something to work toward.

So far, it seems like the goal needs to be never ending and positive.

What about money? It benefits many areas of life and is an infinite goal. On the surface, money fits our definition.

But there are plenty of rich people who are miserable.

I remember a billionaire joking, “I have yacht money, but Jeff Bezos has super-yacht money.”

That feels like the wrong way to see life.

It seems this billionaire wanted more money to compete with others. What if that’s a problem?

Maybe a good goal isn’t about external competition. You should want the goal for its own sake, not for what others think.

Imagine you wanted to master making cardboard boxes.

You do it because you love it, not because anyone cares. It’s fulfilling on its own.

So far, a good goal seems to be positive, infinite, and pursued for its own sake. Let’s test this idea.

Example 1: Becoming an Actor

Being an actor is positive because it entertains and inspires people.

The goal is infinite because you can act for most of your life.

But the third criteria is tricky. If you pursue acting for its own sake, it’s a good goal. If you chase it for fame or recognition, it fails.

he intention behind the goal matters.

Example 2: Working at a Charity

Helping people is positive. It’s infinite because you can always help more.

If you help others because you genuinely care, you’re pursuing the goal for its own sake.

But if you do it to impress others, it’s not. Again, intention decides if the goal is good or not.

Example 3: Becoming a Professional Video Game Player

Some might argue it’s positive because it provides entertainment and builds skills. Others might disagree.

The goal isn’t infinite—you can’t compete at a high level after a certain age, like most athletes.

Whether it’s for its own sake or external validation depends on the player’s intention. Overall, this seems like a weaker goal.

Key Insight: From looking at the examples, it seems that intention behind the critical aspect of the goal.

Conclusion

Based on the definition, there are two clear paths for a goal.

Path 1: Improving Yourself

You can focus on:

a) Mastering a skill — for example, you choose to become a great guitarist or the best sushi chef.

b) Overall Self-Improvement — You work on making more money, staying fit, and learning new things.

The goal is to reach your full potential in all areas of life.

Path 2: Helping Others

You focus on being useful to others. Whether you help one person or a billion doesn’t matter.

What matters is the sense of purpose you gain from making a difference.

What to Do If You Don’t Have a Clear Goal

• If you have an interest, work on improving your skills in that area.

• If you don’t, focus on key areas of self-improvement like earning money, staying healthy, and gaining knowledge.

• If improving yourself feels empty, shift your focus to helping others.

This is my best answer so far to What is the goal? 

The goal is to find work you want to engage in—a positive act you can pursue for a long time, for its own sake.

Once you know the goal, the rest is straightforward. You can fill any information gaps about what to do.

From there, you can take action and start making progress.

I hope this reflection was valuable. If you think someone else might find it helpful, feel free to share it with them.

If you have feedback or thoughts to share, I would love if you emailed me at [email protected].

Unit next time,
Ahmed :)