Goals don’t work.
Not for the reason you think they do.
And you should set cascading goals anyway.
A life without goals is less.
The common case for goals
A couple of years ago, I reviewed 60 years of research on goals.
The science is clear: goals help us achieve more.
On average, we accomplish more when pursuing ambitious targets than when pursuing less ambitious goals or no goals at all.
Yet we don’t actually get out of goals what we most desire.
Why goals don’t work
Think of the last goal you set for yourself. What did you hope to accomplish?
Lose weight. Make money. Build a business.
Whether you accomplished your goal or not, you likely didn’t get what you really wanted.
You wanted a specific outcome because you thought it would bring you lasting happiness and contentment.
If you only had $1 million in the bank, you thought, you’d feel secure, content, and free.
With $1 million finally in the bank, only $2 million would feel good enough.
If every goal we successfully accomplish only brings us fleeting satisfaction, then why set goals at all?
The anti-goals life
At least a few popular bloggers, often minimalist-focused writers, have promoted the idea of living without goals.
It sounds appealing, freeing.
I’ve tried it.
The pressure is off. You can do anything.
You can work on your craft, pursue the work that has the greatest meaning for you.
Do only that which inspires you each day. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Before long, little inspires you.
If you’re an ambitious person, you like to feel inspired. You need it. Crave it.
Being free to pursue activities without purpose is draining, boring, depressing.
It feels like your life is slipping away.
You’re not living up to your full potential. You’re not creating the impact you could, or should.
Why minimalists get depressed
I love minimalism.
I love the idea of doing more with less.
Of removing, rather than always adding.
Simplicity is beautiful.
Yet we can only simplify so much.
I knew the moment I reached rock bottom as a minimalist: I bought a feather duster.
I read a book by a Japanese monk. He spent his days sweeping, washing dishes by hand, and dusting. I liked the simplicity of it. The life of in-the-moment presence.
You can dust, clean, sweep, and tidy up for the rest of your life.
Or, you can create. Build. Inspire. Give. Share.
I choose the latter.
I choose goals
No single achievement will create lasting happiness for you.
We’re designed to pursue, create, and build.
Little of what we’ve created as humans would exist if we achieved permanent happiness through minute, early achievements.
The purpose of goals is to give our days purpose.
By setting and working toward ambitious goals, we move ourselves, our tribes, our communities, and our species forward.
While we may not achieve lasting happiness, our days are better, more satisfactory.
While accomplishing goals might not provide permanent satisfaction, we do experience a long-lasting residue of joy, confidence, and contentment.
Set cascading goals
I made my first million dollars by setting a cascading goal. One day in college, I wrote down “I will have a net worth of $1 million by age 25” in blue marker. I carried that piece of paper with me for five years, until I achieved my goal.
Based on that top-level goal, I set yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals.
Cascading goals work.
They turn longer-term goals into specific daily actions and measurable milestones.
This is goal-setting 101.
Use it.
What do you wish to accomplish by the end of this year?
What must you do each quarter (or season), each month, each week, each day to achieve that?
Write down your plan. Review it daily.
Let others coast through life without goals, without purpose.
Be one of the few who move the world forward.
I’ll be there pushing with you.
—Matt