Why does a person need a goal in life: 40 ideas for a list of goals

“Everyone dies someday, but not everyone actually lives.”
William Ross

This saying says that almost all of us have nothing interesting going on in our lives. We are not developing at all. Our every day is like Groundhog Day. Breakfast, work, dinner, sleep, and then back to work. And this happens every day and year after year. In this article we will try to understand why a person needs to set goals, and how they help change for the better.

It's about a list of goals you want to achieve, dreams you want to achieve, and life experiences you want to live before you die. So what would you like to do with your life?

What is the difference between a dream and a goal in life?

A dream is a romanticized and distant concept. A goal in life is a specific life goal that you strive for. The main difference is that a dream is when a person dreams about the future and does nothing to realize it. If you are actively trying to make your dream come true, that is already a goal.

Dream or goal?

Examples of dreams rather than goals:

• become rich (how, when, how rich?);
• achieve ideal physical shape (the ideal is different for everyone);
• become an astronaut (1 in 10 people flies into space after serious preparation);
• Travel all around the world;

Here are some goals in life:

• become a volunteer in a public organization, help people or animals;
• pick up a child from the orphanage and provide him with a happy life;
• become a professional gymnast/gymnast;
• sell your own creativity for $1 thousand;
• visit 10-100 countries/cities of the world;

When you outline a clear action plan for yourself (when, how much, how), you take the first step towards your goal. This is called defining a goal in life.

How to set a goal and force yourself to step out of your comfort zone?

Every person can do something and knows something. Every person has certain skills. For example, I have experience writing articles and books. It’s interesting for me to do this and I don’t worry if I have to write an article, because I know how to do it.

But I want to realize my potential, I want to develop. I believe that life is development. And without development there is no life. This means I need to step out of my comfort zone. For example, I was invited to speak at a conference or training in front of a very large audience. This is a challenge for me.

But can I refuse? And then I won’t have to leave my comfort zone. I won't need to do anything new.

Learning new things is always difficult. Remember how you learned to drive a car or ride a bicycle. It was difficult. But then, when the skill was acquired, it became easy. Now you do it automatically, now this is your comfort zone.

My goal is to give TED talks to share my idea with the world. But for this I need to learn how to speak in front of a large audience. For this purpose, I will accept the challenge of speaking at the conference.

There are people who have many goals. How do they force themselves to step out of their comfort zone? Do you think they are not afraid? Everyone is afraid. After all, once you start acting, you immediately leave the discomfort zone.

Firstly, it’s hard for you, you are in pain. Because you need to study a lot and work a lot - to do something that you have never done and therefore you are not yet good at.

Secondly, it's scary. What if it doesn't work out. After all, the goal is still far away. The family reproaches you. Why are you concerned with your own development and not with family problems? You feel a sense of guilt and doubt: “What if I’m wrong?” Friends say: “Do you want to be richer than others? Why aren’t you having fun with us?” Pessimists say: “There is a crisis ahead. It's useless. You won't succeed."

But the goal is still far away. And there are no results yet.

So what do experienced people do? They paint a picture of happiness in their head: they imagine their life after achieving the goal. That is, they visualize the end point-goal on the GPS map of their life.

They imagine themselves at this point and rejoice as if everything has already worked out! This picture helps them move on, just as a mirage in the desert helps a traveler move forward to a source of water.

The path of people who set goals and begin their journey towards them resembles a swing. They're already halfway there. But the pain of difficult work, lack of results and criticism from friends and family can easily push them back into their comfort zone. However, they do not give up and again leave their comfort zone and begin to move towards their goal, overcoming pain, fear and criticism.

What goals can there be in life?

Human aspirations are divided into:

• long-term;
• short-term;

Any goal implies a clear deadline for completion. Short-term goals are achieved after a day, a week, a month. Long-term ones take several months or years to complete.

Short term goals in life

A person seeking to find the meaning of his existence must set small goals for himself. This way you will know what is feasible for you and what is difficult or impossible. For example:

• give up several types of unhealthy foods starting tomorrow (flour, sweets);
• draw up a motivation sheet before the evening;
• sign up for a gym within a month;

Long term goals in life

Long-term goals can be set when several steps have already been completed. For example, you want a good car, but with your current income this is impossible. Then you start looking for a high-paying job and find a suitable option for yourself. And here an obstacle appears: the desired position requires knowledge of the language, the ability to drive a vehicle, and programming skills. Then you set yourself a long-term goal:

• learn English to a conversational level in 4 months;
• pass exams at a driving school;
• learn a programming language in six months;
• This is called long-term planning.

What is Franklin's Pyramid

The method owes its name to its author - Benjamin Franklin, a politician, businessman, scientist, one of the founding fathers of the United States and the authors of the Constitution. Despite the fact that B. Franklin did not become President of the United States, you can see his portrait on the 100 dollar bill.

This man was extremely efficient and purposeful, he knew how to properly manage his time, cutting off the unimportant, concentrating on the necessary and important.

To use time rationally, he developed a system for planning and achieving short-term and long-term goals. It is now called Franklin's pyramid of goals.

The secret of Franklin's pyramid is a holistic view of the path to your dreams. That is, not so much setting immediate tasks and short-term goals, but presenting the entire route to the dream as a whole.

This is a global approach to planning, during which a person begins to better understand himself and his real desires.

The essence of Benjamin Franklin's pyramid is breaking a global task into smaller ones, which, in turn, are broken down into subtasks.

Main goals in human life

We strive to satisfy basic needs: food, comfort, safety, entertainment. The main goals in a person’s life are a happy family, a big house and a carefree old age. All of this refers to long-term goals, in order to progress towards which you need to complete daily short-term ones.

Main goal in life: philosophy

Aristotle believed that the goal of human life is happiness, which consists of thinking and knowing. Thus, the main goal in life according to Aristotle is constant self-development.

L.N. Tolstoy agreed with Aristotle. He believed that the essence of life is self-improvement and personal development.

Kant wrote: “man’s existence has within itself a highest goal, to which, as far as it is in his power, he can subordinate all nature.” According to his thoughts, the purpose of the individual is to work for the good of society. When a person dies, only his works and his activities remain.

Male and female aspirations

A man's goals in life and a woman's goals are different. Men, on average, are inclined to extract resources, to fight for supremacy (in the financial market, in sports). The purpose in the life of an ordinary woman is associated with creative fulfillment, family, and motherhood. This is just a statistic, not a rule. There are ladies who dream of a sports career and financial success, and men who dream of a strong and large family.

Circle of life goals

There is a psychological technique that helps you determine what exactly is missing in your life. For this:

1. Draw a circle on a piece of paper.
2. Divide it into 8 sectors.
3. Name them like this: “Hobbies”, “Health”, “Personal growth”, “Career”, “Family”, “Environment”, “Creativity”, “Recreation”.
4. Think about each of these areas. What suits you most and what least? Draw each sector with colored markers or pencils.
5. The 100% shaded segment shows your complete satisfaction with this area of ​​life. And the one you leave empty reflects dissatisfaction and the need for change.
6. Draw a similar circle nearby. Now fill it out with how you would like to feel in these areas.
7. Compare what you want with what you actually have. Pay special attention to those areas where the difference is felt most acutely.

The exercise makes it clear which area of ​​your activity has been left unattended. The circle of goals is a good technique that allows you to understand yourself and understand “what’s wrong with you.”

The key to a meaningful life

How is this hidden revealed? In fact, it is “hidden” in plain sight, literally under our noses. People speak in key words, conveying the meanings by which the psyche lives. Details of appearance, facial expressions, gestures - everything reflects how a person perceives fragments of existence through his mental properties.

By observing this coordinated interaction of particle and wave, you reveal all the cause-and-effect relationships. This applies to both the destinies of individual people and global processes occurring in society. What is happening around ceases to be chaos, “white noise”, the fuss of people from scratch. A single plan is revealed that harmonizes the world into one whole, and the answer is revealed - why I live in it.

All you need is a key - a universal “decoder” that will allow you to recognize not just the sounds made by people, but the meanings behind them. You can get it and learn how to use it at the training “System-vector psychology” by Yuri Burlan.

This forever and radically changes your perception of reality. Allows you to realize your unique purpose and be happy.

Author Evgenia AstreinovaCorrector Dalia Konysheva

The article was written using materials from Yuri Burlan’s online training “System-vector psychology”

March 27, 2019

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Tags: psychology - I feel bad

Long term plan

It is a step-by-step route to achieving the completion of the master plan. In a time perspective, it will be extended over 1-5 years. The main task is to bring the global goal closer. At this stage, it is very important to outline the deadlines within which they need to be completed. This is necessary for a clear vision of all stages of the route and time milestones for completing tasks. Time limits will stimulate, preventing you from wasting time. As can be seen from the example of the artist, long-term step-by-step goals can be training, making acquaintances, visiting exhibitions, etc.

Franklin's Pyramid Principles

Based on the life values ​​that Benjamin Franklin adhered to throughout his life:

You can take these spiritual values ​​as guidelines and build your future life on their basis. The main thing is that they resonate with your global goal.