The Goal Artistry Primer

Disembodied goals make disembodied people. The artistry here is to ensure the letter of the goal meets the spirit of the goal. That is when the magic happens. And this is why goal adjustment is so important.

I do think the monastic approach is a good one: go to a monastery and opt into an ecology of practices that is pre-designed for you. My sense though is that the world needs something new, as everyone’s transcontextual situation is unique. I sense that each person needs a bespoke ecology of practice to meet them where they are at

There is a higher-order category beyond goal setting and goal pursuit, one I will call the “goal artistry process.” I see at least eight facets to this process: goal setting, goal priming, goal pursuit, goal shielding, goal adjustments, goal attainment, goal accountability, and goal beautification.

beautifying the whole process is that thing that helps turn one’s life into a lifework - art that exalts the sacred.

The vision I am having here is this: people radically and wildly experimenting with their DIY Ecology of Practices, in an open way, that informs other people’s ecologies of practice. I think this is how the “meta ecology of practice” will get discovered

How can we beautify all of our goals? Creating true art is often intrinsically motivating and beautifying the goal process could afford us to effortlessly flow with our goals.

While attaining your goal state is ultimately out of our control (due to unforeseen circumstances or accidentally setting an unachievable goal), telling our gangs about our progress is often in our control. This is about connection, or communitas, the place where the real beauty is found.

Of course, success will surely be a happy epiphenomenon of the goal artistry process, but we are here to make virtuous friends. A part of being virtuous is keeping your word and doing what you say you’ll do.