February 28, 2018: Goals

Epictetus, Discourses, 3.23.1-2a: "First tell yourself what kind of person you want to be, then do what you have to do. For in nearly every pursuit we see this to be the case. Those in athletic pursuit first choose the sport they want, and then do that work."

Goals are essential for everyone to have. Your goal may be not to have a goal! Joking, but I think it is important to spend time thinking what is important to YOU, not your friends, not your family, but what do you want to achieve. Once you have a list, start your actions towards those goals. Its not enough to hope they get completed, you must make the active effort, but only should after you have confirmed that is what you want.

I've found when in my life I have set reasonable goals (completing a project, helping a friend, reading a book) and focus towards it, by the time I've realized it I have already finished it and get to move on to another step. What gets overwhelming for most folks is when they set too many goals in an undefined time period. Then when you are unable to complete all the tasks, you feel like you have lost your purpose and feel anxiety about the remaining items. Instead if just one or two were picked over a 1-2 day time period, they will get finished and you will be excited to do the next priorities on your list.

So Today, just pick one small goal (don't try to feed the world, but you can start with one person around you!), and give yourself a few days to do it. Don't worry if it seems too small, just pick it and do it. It will give you momentum to pick another goal and then another. Slowly you will get to larger goals and larger time periods, and will succeed in achieving them!