Do most people have goals?

[PrettyParrot]

At work or in life generally. I was asked to set some goals for myself at work and was honestly flummoxed. I want to do the job I do well, and reliably, and be considered a safe pair of hands. Based on peer feedback, I have achieved these for the most part already.

AIBU for not really having any other goals than to continue doing my job to a good standard?

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! 😁)

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.

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?

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.

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’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.

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!

@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 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

@PrettyParrot you have listed your goals in your post. Until you re-write this as “achieve consistently and comprehensively”, rather than “on the most part” then those are your goals.

I absolutely do, but I can also understand why people don't. I have a five year plan at work, which i revise every so often. I also have "life goals", which include things like seeing an orca and a humpback whale, visiting every cathedral in England, and travelling to a few island groups.

Yes but there’s no reason everyone should

I'd imagine that most people.have personal goals. They just think of them more in terms of being Things I Want To Do.

I can't imagine many people go through life not having anythings they want to do or achieve. Even if it's just sorting out the garden shed.

I think most people have goals, just perhaps not work related ones, and that changes at different stages of life.

I’ve always had quite strict career goals, since before I went to uni, I had a plan and I stuck to it and it got me exactly where I wanted to be but now my goals & plans have shifted. I’ve got a 1 year old and I’m pregnant with my second baby, both my husband & I have gone from being very money/career driven to actually placing more value on time than money for this phase of our lives. We still have goals, but work related? Not at the moment!

You are mostly just framing normal life admin as goals though - decorating a bedroom or training your dog or growing roses are all standard life stuff. Plus you seem to like formal structure with hobbies and projects.

All of this is fine if it works for you but lots of people would find it a regimented and dull way to organise every corner of their lives.

@Castlerigg yes it’s important to do things for yourself. I’m sorry you’ve been through a hard time. Why not make a list of goals for yourself, purely for yourself that will make you feel good? Maybe 3 short term things you can achieve without too much hard work. The sort of things you’d put off because they’re not a priority. I don’t know what that would be for you but for example, one of my goals I keep not achieving, which would fall into that category for me, would be actually get up and do a park run. I find once I’ve achieved something I consciously set out for myself, the sense of achievement motivates me to do more.

Record keeping wise, my system involves a lot of notes on my phone and pieces of paper with lists to tick off. Then they evolve as one thing leads to another. Some people may find that exhausting and overwhelming but for me I find boredom and stagnating incredibly stressful. Where some people could do with setting more goals for themselves, I could do with some precise relaxing and just Be-ing. So maybe one of my goals is to do less, more 😆

I will say though, a lot of what I have in my life now would never have come about if I hadn’t had conscious goals for myself.

I have goals but they're based around living with chronic illness so any day i get up get washed dressed and clean my teeth I take as a win. All I want is a peaceful happy life. I have no interest in being rich or having a career im happy to plod along in the back ground.

We have to do them every year in work, I just make them up. My only work goal is avoiding line managing anyone 😂

Ive never had goals in my personal life. I’ve got what I need.

Our manager tells us what our work goals are. They are generally pointless and unattainable, but he's a bit like the Trunchbull in, "I'm big, you're small, I'm right and you're wrong"... permanently! Quite frankly, we just aim to get through the day with everything going well. If we can get through the day without having to deal with the manager, than it's even better!

I do have personal goals, but I don't tend to think of them as such. I just know what I'd like my house to look like eventually (it's been dragging on for three years so far...!), what skills I would like to learn (I know that I need to practice on my piano, and I'd love to learn to play the cello and the harp and many other things), and things that I'd like to have in my life (like some sheep, a kitchen garden and more of a grown-up car than my sporty little student-type runaround!).

Goal is one of my least favourite words at work. I'm at leadership level and am responsible for strategy and planning, but die inside a bit when goal setting for myself and with others. My main goals are to work on interesting stuff, ram money into my pension, have a rich life outside work and earn more money.

Has anyone come across wankers who talk about their big hairy goals at work? Started showing up in strategy meetings a couple of years ago and it makes me sick in my mouth. You can just imagine the baseball cap wearing tech cunt who coined that one.

No, I don't have goals. I'm in a job where promotion isn't really possible and I'm too old to re-train so there's no point aspiring to anything other than having a life with the least hassle possible.

It was actually on MN that I learnt that most people are supposed to have goals.