Allow Yourself to Live Goal-Free

February 21, 2005  

Here is an email I just received from a reader. When working on the Goal-Free Living project, I thought the people who would be most interested were the “Goalaholics”. But I have found that there are large numbers of people who already live Goal-Free, but feel ostracized by society. If anyone else has a great story to tell, please let me know. Thanks.

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Thank you!! I happened upon your web page this morning, and at first I thought it was a joke–Goal Free Living?! After all, everyone knows you won’t get anywhere in this life if you DON’T HAVE GOALS! Well, I have to admit, I’m 43, a mother of 5, a busy professional, a wife, and have never set a goal in my life, other than to get my black belt in Tae Kwon Do, which I did at age 41. Somehow, though, I’ve managed to build what I consider a successful life, all without the aid of setting goals.

I guess I’ve lived in the moment, for the moment, that setting goals seemed so structured and unbending. Yet, I’m a school counselor and teach seniors how to get ready for “LIFE”, which is supposed to include goal setting. Guess what! I have yet to teach them how to do that! Can’t teach what you don’t know, or what you don’t believe in. I obtained my Master’s when I was 21, am currently working on National Board Certification, and am in constant pursuit of knowledge and personal and spiritual growth. I never would have set these as goals for myself, yet I always achieve what I set out for. Thank you for giving me “permission” to live a goal-less life, and to feel OK about it. And for letting me know I’m NOT ALONE!!

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One Response to “Allow Yourself to Live Goal-Free”

  1. ashok baktha on March 17th, 2005 12:46 am

    Appreciation->Responsibility->Sustainability->Contribution->Celebration

    Goal-free living must not be mistaken as a license to adopt a care-free approach to living. To be born as a human is a blessing. Along with the blessing come responsibilities, including that of creating a sustainable simple living for oneself and her dependants. Become alive and strive to unearth your hidden talents and use them to make a unique contribution to the World. Enjoy the journey and learn to celebrate every second of your life.

    Unless you set time-bound goals, you very rarely get an objective assessment of how you have fared in your attempt to make that unique contribution. Goals, in that sense, are a means to an end.

    A more pragmatic and seemingly dark perspective is as follows: If you really think hard and deep and smart, you will realize that the whole Existence is nothing but a big cosmic joke, and your life is just a small part of the Big Delusion. Smokers sometimes light a cigarette just to feel good that they have set a “goal” and taken it through completion. Similarly, goal-setting exercises are useful in creating a diversion for the mind that has been sucked into the mind-boggling blackhole of True Enquiry.