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ahimel · 11-05-2006, 04:22 PM

I don't know if you're alone, but I'll join in the discussion. I'm a committed goal-setter, so I'd love to see both sides of the question.

I don't know that the ONLY benefit of setting goals is thinking about what you really want, but I'll agree that it's probably the biggest. So we may have a simple difference of linguistics here. If you have some method of thinking about what you want and deciding which of those you want so much that you'll put in time and effort to get it, but you don't want to call this method "goal-setting", then I'll agree with you that it's not necessary to set goals.

I do think that the italicized bit is important. Most people think about what they want all the time. Very few take these desires, prioritize them to determine the top two or three to work on, figure out a way to accomplish them, and then implement this plan. Thinking about what you want will get you motivated, but you'll be running in 15 different directions. Deciding what you want will probably frighten you, motiviate you, and get you running in a very definite direction with a plan to get you there. And that's clearly a better way to get where you're going.

I'd argue that if you have some method by which you think about what you want, and decide what you want, the end result is going to look a lot like a goal, whatever you want to call it.

There was also a post on Levels of Awareness, in which Steve said that you could also get past goal-setting. At some point, you've been thinking about your (ultimate) goals for so long, and are so aware of your environment and yourself and the effect of your actions, that concious goal-setting is unecessary; you'll just do whatever is best in line with your life's purpose. But the only way to get to that level of awareness is to get through the levels where you have to deliberatly decide to be at that level of awareness.

11-05-2006, 04:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
ahimel Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Boulder, Colorado Posts: 398	I don't know if you're alone, but I'll join in the discussion. I'm a committed goal-setter, so I'd love to see both sides of the question. I don't know that the ONLY benefit of setting goals is thinking about what you really want, but I'll agree that it's probably the biggest. So we may have a simple difference of linguistics here. If you have some method of thinking about what you want and deciding which of those you want so much that you'll put in time and effort to get it, but you don't want to call this method "goal-setting", then I'll agree with you that it's not necessary to set goals. I do think that the italicized bit is important. Most people think about what they want all the time. Very few take these desires, prioritize them to determine the top two or three to work on, figure out a way to accomplish them, and then implement this plan. Thinking about what you want will get you motivated, but you'll be running in 15 different directions. Deciding what you want will probably frighten you, motiviate you, and get you running in a very definite direction with a plan to get you there. And that's clearly a better way to get where you're going. I'd argue that if you have some method by which you think about what you want, and decide what you want, the end result is going to look a lot like a goal, whatever you want to call it. There was also a post on Levels of Awareness, in which Steve said that you could also get past goal-setting. At some point, you've been thinking about your (ultimate) goals for so long, and are so aware of your environment and yourself and the effect of your actions, that concious goal-setting is unecessary; you'll just do whatever is best in line with your life's purpose. But the only way to get to that level of awareness is to get through the levels where you have to deliberatly decide to be at that level of awareness.