Do most people have goals?

Nope, not me!
my goal in my last job was just to get out, no one wants to hear that on an appraisal😂

I used to do others appraisals and it was the same, I used to commend them for being committed to doing a good job!

I do have some life goals around getting fitter and stronger and travelling but it’s very vague. Professionally I just want to do a good job and enjoy my work.

No.
Not me.

I don't spend my time outside of work 'loading the dishwasher'.
On a normal week, I'm out at least 3 evenings (often 4) and a couple of times at the weekend. But I am very happy doing what I am doing. I don't have any desire to reach for supposedly bigger and better things throughout my life.

Millions of people play sport for the intrinsic enjoyment it gives them. Some for fitness and some for the camaraderie. I suspect far fewer than 1% of us are aiming for national competitions. Great for you if that's where you are, and that makes you happy, but millions can just enjoy doing what they are doing without needing to set themselves a 'goal' like that.
Same with all the millions of people that make music each week - choirs, bands, orchestras, etc etc. You can get a huge amount of enjoyment out of playing / singing with friends. That is a pleasure in itself. Most people don't need a 'goal' to sing / play in a different venue or to a bigger audience, they play / sing because they enjoy it.

Hell no.
My goal is to be happy that's all.

How will you feel when people less competent and reliable are promoted over you? Is that ok? Still happy to carry on being the reliable one, answering to them while clearing up their messes? If so, no need for goals.

I do but that's only because I have to achieve very particular things in order to progress in my job.
My DH has decided his reached the pinnacle of his career so now his job is to support me in achieving my goals.

It's very individual and I've managed people who have genuinely got no desire to progress and just want to continue doing a good job. And that's fine.

@StillweriseLH and @KimKardashiansLostEarring that’s really interesting, as I would say I struggle to set goals for myself. It’s been tough these last couple of years, and I’ve spent so long just trying to get through each day, that I haven’t had the headspace to consider any kind of bigger picture.

However, there are LOADS of things I’d like to do - some sewing projects, some garden things, some financial - but I always thought of those as kind of fantasies or daydreams. Maybe it’s all in the definition, and a reframe is required?

Thank you for the insight! Would love to know more about how you record / track progress on your longer term projects.

I have small goals - get my hip operation done (next month) and get back to walking the dog and doing yoga.
No point in a five/ten year plan - hopes maybe, but none of us can control everything in life. I am a widow, learning to live alone - and that certainly wasn't in any plan!

I’d have thought most people have cats or dogs, but I’ve always wanted a goat, too, especially those cute teeny tiny ones. Most people my age have reading glasses too.

Oh and personal goals? Well, mine are always to lose weight, get fitter and keep my house clean and tidy. All of which I continue to fail to do!

I'm a teacher. I have to set myself goals - it's part of our appraisal system. It's a bit performative though, and everyone knows it. Our goals/targets are no longer tied to pay progression, fortunately. I often forget what my year's targets actually are until I check. Everyone's real goal is just to actually manage to do as much of the unmanageable workload as they can, without going crazy. And to somehow try to balance the endless admin tasks with the real job of actually teaching kids well.

I have a goal of increasing my fitness levels but it just involves going for walks or bike rides when I feel like it! I don't have the headspace, time or motivation for a set training plan. Everything else I do follows the same pattern really. I'm happier just to mooch along through life.
I've always been confused about how 5 year plans work if someone becomes ill. Isn't that just disappointing and demoralising. How can any of us be sure we'll still even be here in 5 years?

It depends on the type of job. Where a job is process driven and little is left to your judgement, then it isn't really necessary.

If the job is to lead a team in setting up a new division, then goals are fairly essential even if they are only deadlines.

Hmm, that’s a thought, maybe my goal setting habit comes from mostly always being self employed - don’t see how that could work without goals. Or maybe I’ve always been self employed because I love a goal and it suits my personality?

It’s true that if I worked in a call center or something (been there done that) I would hate coming up with goals for that and my only one would be ‘get out of here!’. (I’d definitely still have lots of non-work related goals though! 😁)

Yes at home and at work - I need them for my mental wellbeing and it helps me not do destructive things within my life

Is a goal just something you really want to do though ?

I have goals in my personal life.

We have team goals at work, which I prefer to individual goals. I hate writing my annual review each year, it just feels like showing off.

In life, I always like to have a plan/goals. For years it was save for a house (finally moving in June 🥳) and my new life goal is I'd really like to finish writing the novel I started when I was on maternity leave with DS1 - he's 9!)

I have lots of goals. I love goals and love achieving them.

i set goals in my professional, family, social and personal life.

I read the title as goats 🐐 so I am slightly disappointed

Goals are important for me.
I agree that most people have goals but just don’t see them as such.
At work, I am in a senior enough position in my view and don’t feel like climbing the corporate ladder (no patience for politics), so my goals are basically keeping the clients happy and not f*up. Pretty simple on paper, but not so much in practice.
In life, my goals were always having my own home (which I managed to buy last year!!!) and provide a stable and comfortable environment for my DC. These are working in progress. I am also setting myself some health goals, like running 10k again after an injury, while long term goals involve saving for retirement, go back to the gym and save for a 3 months trip to Asia when DC finish secondary school (1 have 10 years to save for that one!)

God no!
I have no life plan whatsoever, I am just bumbling along and hoping for the best. I own a home with my husband and we have our two children (+ a zoo's worth of pets) so I don't feel like I have missed out by not meticulously planning everything.
If they ask me what my goals are at work I would tell them I plan to win the lottery and not be there in 12 months time!

Jeez, I used to hate the goals and objectives setting at work. I too just wanted to do the job well.

Throughout life I've had the usual goals - get a good job, learn to drive, get married, buy a home, have kids etc. nothing monumental. Now I'm a 60 year old widow and my next goal is getting a knee replacement (😁 such an exciting life I have!) I'm at a life stage now where I have a bucket list rather than 'goals'.

My only goal, since childhood has just been to get to the end of the day without a catastrophe happening. Some days that hasn’t happened, and it’s hard.

I’ve had a shit life though from the get go, so it’s hard to have any other goal than just to get through the latest shit you are going through and hope for a couple of days where nothing happens.

I hate setting work goals. I want to write “do job well” and be done with it. But I’m forced to come up with several more substantial things 🙄

In a sense.

for example, today I need to repot the peppers, buy cat food and make sure I get to my choir on time.

most people would probably think of it as a to do list.