“The most important thing about goals is having one.”*
Geoffry F. Abert
I thought for today’s rant I would return to an oft mentioned subject of mine, and delve a little deeper in to why goals are useful. This may sound odd but many people I know think that it all sounds a little too pushy.
So instead of justifying their usefulness, I thought that I would go a little further back in to human pyschology and look at why we are happiest as goal-oriented creatures, and how goal setting and goal achievement can lead to a happy life.
An oft-referred theory here is that of Abraham Maslow. Maslow’s primary contribution to psychology is his Hierarchy of Human Needs, which he often presented as a pyramid. Maslow contended that humans have a number of needs that are instinctoid, that is, innate. Maslow assumed our needs are arranged in a hierarchy in terms of their potency. Although all needs are instinctive, some are more powerful than others. The lower the need is in the pyramid, the more powerful it is. The higher the need is in the pyramid, the weaker and more distinctly human it is. The lower, or basic, needs on the pyramid are similar to those possessed by non-human animals, but only humans possess the higher needs.
Immediately you can see that goals are important in humans, at a basic instinctive level; keep stomach full, keep warm, keep safe, belong, have respect, serve a purpose etc etc. The goals change as you progress up the hierarchy, but they only become less material.
Maslow suggested that humans that reach self-actualisation as having “the full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, potentialities, etc.”, essentially realising their potential. Realising potential could be described in many ways, but I see it as effectively finding your place in the world; somewhere, be it a job, a family, a place, or a combination of things, where everthing seems right, or, perhaps, where the important things seem so right that the other aspects just don’t seem that important.
Whilst many people fail to reach a constant state of self-actualisation, I would say most experience it for, say a short period of time. Maslow coined these moments “peak experiences”. During these moments, we are more whole, more integrated, more aware of ourselves and of the world. At such times we think, act, and feel most clearly and accurately. We are more loving and accepting of others, have less inner conflict and anxiety, and are better able to put our energies to constructive use. Some people enjoy more peak experiences than others.
Virtually everyone has had a number of peak experiences, although we often take them for granted. One’s reactions while watching a vivid sunset or listening to a moving piece of music are examples of peak experiences. According to Maslow, peak experiences tend to be triggered by intense, inspiring occurrences: “It looks as if any experience of real excellence, of real perfection … tends to produce a peak experience”. These experiences may also be triggered by tragic events. Recovering from depression or a serious illness, or confronting death, can initiate extreme moments of love and joy. The lives of most people are filled with long periods of relative inattentiveness, lack of involvement, or even boredom. By contrast, peak experiences, understood in the broadest sense, are those moments when we become deeply involved, excited by, and absorbed in the world.
So peak experiences, that most of us have at times, are effectively samples of what we could have from life everyday if we could link the time between peak experiences with more peak experiences. The clue of how to do that lies within peak experiences themselves. Are there any common themes? Perhaps it is a certain place or type of place, perhaps what you are doing is the common theme, or who you are with? Once you have established the themes that link your peak experiences together, you effectively have a goal - to find a place in the world that allows to to do \ be \ see that
thing every day.
Perhaps next time I’ll talk about the practicalities of goal setting. In fact, yes I will.
* thanks to Winning Attitude once again for the quote.
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June 22nd, 2006 at 3:31 pm
Matt,
Great post, a very interesting view on goals. Yes, it’s quite important to have goals; however,
one needs to be realistic when setting goals. It’s really that simple.
I am going to post my favorite quote on the site later today, but I will share it with you now.
“If you had a friend who talked to you like you sometimes talk to yourself, would you continue to hang around with that person?â€
~Rob Bremer
Ponder this quote for a while!
Cheers,
Matthew