By IndiaHub 
Hence, we often accept the path and the goals that are typically laid out for us without questioning them. Achieving these goals adds an element of respectability and even becomes aspirational.
Take buying a house, for example. It’s seen as a major goal. It is a symbol of security and status. The classic interview question was “Where do you see yourself in five years from now? The supposed correct answer was “I want to be in the CEO’s chair!” These are the standard responses we often give and sometimes even start to believe.
But a herd mentality may see you overburdening yourself with responsibilities that you truly do not want in life. A better way would be to start scratching the surface to find the right goal.
Goal discovery is a process. Most students tend to follow their peers when choosing a stream for higher studies, even if they are not really interested in it. Most choose a stream based on what’s considered acceptable and respected. This explains the massive number of students flocking to engineering, which is seen as a respectable stream to go to! A lot of them may not have the aptitude or interest in that area and end up being mediocre talent. Some of them even drop out halfway.
Many also opt for engineering because it is a tried and tested route to landing a job right after college. A lot of them are aiming for IT jobs, which tend to pay well over time.
It is a minority that chooses their careers deliberately and makes a success of it. Usually, careers are chosen based on the perceived opportunities in that domain, rather than a genuine passion or interest. For many other people, the career choices themselves can be unanticipated. Only over time do people realise whether their choices are right for them or not.
There are but two such areas where goals choose themselves. But this happens in a surprisingly large proportion of areas in our lives. These goals are the typical milestones we want to cross in our lives.
Intermediate goals: The majority of our life goals are intermediate or means goals. These goals are important and even essential for progress in our world, but their achievement does not provide meaning and purpose. When we achieve such means goals, we feel happy for a while. Then the goalposts shift, and new goals start sprouting… like a bigger home, a second car, a farmhouse, etc.
These new goals pop up because of the emptiness left behind when we achieve a goal, as well as our strong desire to fit in and belong. This results in unnecessary burden and stress.
As a result, goal achievement may seem more like a burden as new ones keep coming up in their place, and there is no respite.
Life Goals: These are the goals that make our life worth living. However, we need to understand what these life goals are. These are goals that energise us and make our lives meaningful & worth living.
Life goals can be different for different people. But life goals are seldom just about wealth. They are about contribution, betterment, and self-refinement leading to a life of purpose, happiness, and vibrancy. These goals act as a guiding hand to a purpose that is truly worthwhile for that person.
Life purpose can be anything that is truly meaningful and fulfilling. It can be deeply personal in that it can be about self/family, about one’s career/calling, or even about growth in personal, spiritual areas. For some, it can be about community, society, country, environment, social/religious causes, etc. It can very well be multiple such heartfelt pursuits. These life goals are the ones that make life delightful & worth living.
Many times, we confuse intermediate goals with life goals. In such cases, people feel like they are drifting rudderless instead of getting a feeling of achievement and progress.
Also, choosing a life where intermediate goals are the only goals makes life mundane, hollow, and lacking in meaning. It stresses us out, even though it confers all the outer trappings of success. Many times, we end up choosing the wrong goals, which is even worse. This is what results in a life that is not fulfilling and even feels like a drag.
Finding the purpose is important for all of us. That is our north star, which guides us through the rough and tumble of life. Once the purpose (or the important goal in life) is understood, having other intermediate goals alongside does not detract one from where one wants to go. In such a case, achieving milestones no longer makes one wonder what to do next or be compelled to take another intermediate goal, for the path and the important life goals are already mapped out.
Identifying goals, understanding which are intermediate goals and which are true life goals, is an important exercise in itself. Getting this right early is the way to live a life that offers clarity, purpose, and a life imbued with meaning.
The author is the MD & Principal Officer at Ladder7 Wealth Planners and the author of the book “If God Was Your Financial Planner”.