Goals?
The trouble with planning is that it only works for achievements you can describe in advance. You can win a gold medal or get rich by deciding to as a child and then tenaciously pursuing that goal, but you can't discover natural selection that way.
I think for most people who want to do great work, the right strategy is not to plan too much. At each... See more
I think for most people who want to do great work, the right strategy is not to plan too much. At each... See more
Paul Graham • How to Do Great Work
The goal model is effective when the steps between where you are now and where you want to go are clear. For example, it still makes sense to set goals like losing 10 pounds, getting 8 hours of sleep per night, spending more time with your family, or hitting quarterly business targets.
However, when the steps between where you are now and where you... See more
However, when the steps between where you are now and where you... See more
Matter
Exploratory Writing
Alison Jones
Agency = capacity for making things happen, for impacting the world. Intention = deliberately choosing what, out of the million different things you COULD make happen today, or in your lifetime, you are going to attempt. Attention = focusing your mind and energy on your chosen priority in a consistent and persistent... See more
Alison Jones
Agency = capacity for making things happen, for impacting the world. Intention = deliberately choosing what, out of the million different things you COULD make happen today, or in your lifetime, you are going to attempt. Attention = focusing your mind and energy on your chosen priority in a consistent and persistent... See more
Readwise
Having the vision and motivation to go for a 1-of-1 purpose are the most important elements. But what if we want to thrive in the pursuit of our goal? What does that look like?
First, and one of the hardest parts: you must give up your desire for approval from others . When pursuing a 1-of-1 vision, you aren’t going to be the most popular or... See more
First, and one of the hardest parts: you must give up your desire for approval from others . When pursuing a 1-of-1 vision, you aren’t going to be the most popular or... See more
Yancey Strickler • When Your Purpose Is 1-of-1
“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.”
― Richard Feynman
Matter
However, recent research is finding the exact opposite to be true. When it comes to BHAGs, goals are often OBSTACLES to LARGE feats of innovation rather than enablers. Furthermore, goals can sap motivation.
Matter
Ultimately, the six main downsides of goals are:
- 1. Goal obsession can lead to being unlucky
- 2. Achieving goals can leave you feeling empty
- 3. The second you set a goal it starts to become stale
- 4. Goals can make you feel insecure
- 5. Goals can reduce learning
- 6. Goals can actually make you feel unmotivated
Matter
Objectives are well and good when they are sufficiently modest, but things get a lot more complicated when they’re more ambitious. In fact, objectives actually become obstacles towards more exciting achievements, like those involving discovery, creativity, invention, or innovation—or even achieving true happiness. In other words (and here is the... See more