Why do we need a goal?
Movement is a fundamental principle of the universe.
Everything moves [1] [2]. Chaos differs from order in that the movement of system elements has a target state to which they strive. Order in space is maintained by the laws of the universe. People realized some of the laws and described their special cases in their sciences. I don’t know what the universe is striving for and for what purpose it is expanding, but the constellations and planets know where to go.
The Universe is a highly organized system. Elements that have lost their place in it are quickly destroyed or absorbed by another organized system.
Most people live in a state of decay , so they need an external force to organize their lives. Rules of decency, moral standards, legal laws are created to tame the lowly organized.
The target made a man out of a worm.
If a person is not self-organized, he is quickly absorbed by the organizing system. He does not control his life, which means that this function is taken over by religion, the state, a corporation or an oppressive wife. His freedom of action is limited by the framework of the system in which he is located or in which he believes that he is located.
Goals are needed to increase the level of self-organization .
To help a person move to a higher layer, so that his life is limited only by physical laws and his conscience, and not by an artificially created ideology to control and subjugate humanity.
Why does a person need a goal?
From birth, the main organizing goal of a person is the preservation of vitality and knowledge of the world [3]. The child is not aware of his leading goals, but it is clear how he is driven by them. As soon as he stops showing interest in the world and does not strive to save his life, the movement inside him stops.
With the growth of consciousness, the teenager develops the goal that organizes his life: “Become an adult” [4].
The more complex a person is, the more complex his goals and the more he needs to direct his processes (manually, consciously or unconsciously). It develops when its processes become more conscious and targeted.
When a teenager achieves his goal in life, society offers him new goals: “Build a career,” “Buy a house,” “Start a family.” Now these long-term goals organize his life.
A person evolves when he moves from a simple structure of the psyche to a complex one and degrades in the opposite direction [5]. When he becomes unable to stay in a complex organization, he moves on to a simpler one.
A person needs a goal to maintain and develop internal organization..
Self-organization means that a person sets his own goals in life and builds himself. Organizes his psyche, habits, daily routine in order to achieve his goals. Builds harmonious relationships with others.
Substitution of goals, or I don’t know what I want
Can you say that you know who you are? So, if you really know that you are you, then most likely you fall into the small category of people who were able to develop their own principles, rules, norms, ways of presenting themselves to the world and live their OWN life. Unlike people who were gifted with all this by their parents and who did not have the opportunity in the future to re-realize all these values and understand their real “I”. In contrast to the real “I,” they try to present to the world their idealized psychological image, which has a weak connection with the real ones.
Capable and talented person
Thus, the question of understanding what a person really wants depends on the need for extremely serious changes, the development of awareness of one’s life and all its aspects, which, of course, does not happen quickly. In this regard, all the “easy and fast” methods of understanding what you want may not work. However, much depends on how strongly a person’s true “I” is replaced by his invented image.
Reward for Determination
Having taken an active life position and defined a goal for ourselves, we make conscious and organized efforts to achieve it. We develop, posing and solving increasingly complex problems. We learn to manage ourselves and improve the quality of our experiences.
The reward for efforts towards a new goal is the experience of a “state of flow” or “optimal experience”, described in the book “Flow” by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
The goal leads into the flow.
Mihai calls the state of flow “the leading edge of evolution,” a powerful incentive that forces you to move forward, grow intellectually and spiritually, and improve your already acquired knowledge and skills.
This is a great opportunity to feel and express our essence in the work we do - in communication, play or work.
The presence of a goal is a condition for entering the flow. [6]
Information coming from outside can cause anxiety and plunge us into a state of chaos, or vice versa, it can make it easier to solve problems by freeing up mental energy. Being in the flow, a person filters information, letting in only that useful thing that is consistent with the goal.
Purpose is needed for effectiveness
When attention is concentrated and consciousness is ordered, mental energy is spent in a targeted and efficient manner. At the same time, the positive feedback that arises due to internal confidence in the correctness of one’s state develops and complicates the personality.
The flow state assumes [6]:
- Concentration.
- Experience a sensation comparable to ecstasy.
- A clear idea of what needs to be done at a specific point in time and how to do it better.
- Losing the sense of time.
- The realization that the work you are doing is doable, although difficult.
- Experiencing the loss of one's own body.
- Merging with something that is bigger than you, that has no boundaries.
Concentrating attention is impossible without a clearly defined task, a specific goal . The absence of a goal and task immediately leads consciousness to a state of mental entropy, internal chaos, alien to the state of flow.
Without a goal, there is no concentration.
Mihai calls the orderliness of consciousness the main condition that maintains the state of flow. Orderliness is achieved when attention is completely concentrated on some specific aspect that is important to us.
Success comes to those who know how to set goals correctly
Many problems and tasks can be solved if you understand your life goals. A person with a goal correctly perceives difficulties and failures and knows how to optimally solve them. Goals also allow you to:
- exercise control over your life. Setting a goal will put everything in its place. The human brain is very complex, it is distracted by many things and prevents you from concentrating on what is really important for personal development. A goal helps you discipline yourself, forces your body and brain to work on important and necessary tasks;
- find meaning in life. Life without a goal is boring and uninteresting. Going with the flow, people begin to mope and stop believing in themselves. Living life aimlessly, a person simply wastes it. The goal gives meaning to each new day, there is a feeling that the day was not lived in vain;
- increase self-confidence. The goal and the process of moving towards it increase self-esteem and give self-confidence. By doing at least something to achieve his goal every day, a person begins to be proud of himself, and the result obtained (even a small one) motivates him to further action. It is advisable to break the goal into small sub-items, write them down in your diary and check the box next to the completed task every day. This helps a lot;
- make your dream come true. A goal will help you gradually turn a pipe dream into a reality. Moreover, the person himself, following the steps to achieve it, will feel involved in this magic. What seemed impossible will take on a clear form and appear after some time. If the task is huge and difficult to complete, you should make a plan and an approximate forecast of how long it will take. If you do this, the dream will become much closer;
- gain faith in making your dreams come true. Anyone can sit on the couch and dream, but the brain does not take it seriously, but if you work at least a little in this direction and get a positive result, optimism and faith will immediately appear that everything will certainly come true;
- gain sense of purpose. Scientists have proven that a person who has a specific, realistic goal motivates himself to achieve it as quickly as possible. Most people succeed sooner or later;
- reveal all your potential. Often, in the process of working on a goal, a person notices that he is doing something that he did not even expect from himself. He learns something new, practically uses all his abilities, acquires new skills, develops in new professions, masters new techniques or even a completely new job. The set goal pushes a person to explore new horizons, forces him to leave his comfort zone and do things that are unusual for him. This is a very useful skill, so you can understand a lot about yourself, discover some special talent, perhaps find yourself in some new business and completely change your life. It is very exciting. Perhaps the process of achieving the goal itself will be even more useful than that very goal.
Don’t dream in vain, analyze your own dreams and find those that you can actually fulfill. You need to dream wisely. Every time another desire comes to mind, you should ask yourself: What can be done now to make this happen? Turning your dreams into reality is the task of every person; you shouldn’t stop, you should move forward, towards your dreams.
Bye everyone. Best regards, Vyacheslav.
Purpose is needed to reveal identity
When the mind is “ordered”, most of the attention is directed to solving the current task. There is no need to deal with internal disorder and external peace. A person floats in the flow and, at the same time, feels and demonstrates his inner confidence and integrity.
...Happiness cannot be achieved - it is always a side effect of a person’s focus on something greater than himself. © Viktor Frankl [7]
Why do you need a goal - to move to the highest level.
The state of flow helps to reveal the personality , due to the deep concentration of mental attention and orderliness of consciousness. In this state, a person’s feelings, thoughts and intentions are better focused on the goal.
By concentrating and directing mental energy to achieve new challenging goals, we develop the ability to organize our consciousness, “be in the flow” and experience a state of happiness. This is why you need to set short-term and strategic goals.
Experiencing a state of flow complicates the personality, allows it to outgrow itself, and act freely. By focusing mental energy on the task at hand, we can find satisfaction in everything we do.
What are our mistakes?
Once upon a time Johann Goethe said:
Most of the troubles around the world come from the fact that people do not clearly understand their goals and the meaning of life.
The most common mistakes are the following:
- Often the problem is that we underestimate our time resources, that is, we want to achieve our goals in too short a time.
- The same goes for when we spend too much time on achieving a goal.
- Purpose and meaning in life do not really light the fire in the eyes.
- Another common mistake is that your aspirations are too ambitious, even unjustifiably.
And remember: do not confuse personal and corporate goals.
