An ambitious life goal can lead you to success—and wreck you on the way.
When we set a goal, we turn everything that happens until we achieve it into mere preparation.
We stop living and start chasing the goal.
We postpone our happiness until this future finally arrives.
Shah, Friedman, and Kruglanski (2002) proved that individuals with multiple targets tend to focus only on one of them at a time.
Gilliland and Landis (1992) gave participants quality and quantity goals. When the goals were challenging, participants concentrated on the quantity ones.
The more we focus on our ambitious goal, the less we can enjoy the here and now.
We can’t do both, or our brains just don’t work this way.
If your goal is ‘to become a millionaire by 2030,’ you’re unlikely to be happy in 2026, 2027, and beyond.
A goal is not a finish line.
It’s a direction you go—and a chance to find happiness along the way.
Svyatoslav Biryulin
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Read also: “Peace begins when expectation ends”
Download my free mini-book The Plague of Strategic Goals here.
Buy my book, Red and Yellow Strategies: Flip Your Strategic Thinking and Overcome Short-termism
