Think about a goal you set for yourself recently.
Chances are it has something to do with achieving something, aka success.
Success is a word that can be defined a million different ways.
e.g. time to pursue personal interests like watercoloring, bird watching, writing children’s books, travel.
e.g.2. doing work you love with people you like the way you want.
e.g.3. raising a family, raising dogs, raising crops.
In America, you won’t find the word success used without money and riches hooked at its hip.
You also won't find it far from the practice of setting goals. People set goals to become more successful all the time. Those goals look like what I listed above and every variation you can think of under the sun.
Success is also often thought of as a destination you can arrive at someday, a place somewhere down the road where all your troubles are gone and you can slip quietly into a life of ease and never-ending bliss.
Something to accomplish.
And then what?
Without the tension inherent in the journey toward achievement, in striving for something better, what’s the point?
The Purpose of Goals
I’ve recently come to understand that the real purpose behind any goal is not success per se, but rather to grow.
The dream home, the dream car, the dream spouse...these are merely a goal’s side effects.
They are not the goal, although that’s what most people think of when they make a list of goals, including myself up until about five months ago when someone I respect presented a different angle on what goals are.
That angle has to do with growth.
Read between the lines and true success = when you grow.
Growth won’t happen without tension, without stress. Think back to your adolescence when your bones were growing at a rapid pace and it hurt but you were excited because you were getting taller.
It may not have always been pleasant, but you knew something awesome was eventually in it for you.
When you’ve set a goal and you're in the middle of making progress toward it and it's stressful even if you’re also excited about it, sometimes all you can think about is get me out of here! When is this going to end? Make it stop. Make it go away.
No one enjoys stress even if it’s attached to something future-cool like being taller or driving that sweet little sapphire blue Mercedes convertible.
Growth and the rewards of growing can only come from stress. It doesn’t have to be back-breaking, keep-you-up-all-night stress, but without some tension there will be no reward.
No summit.
No lake house.
No party at sunset on Mallory Pier in Key West wearing that gorgeous green dress arm and arm with the love of your life.
Success only comes after living through a stretch of time that’s guaranteed to involve highs and lows, scratches and bruises, laughter and tears and almost-giving-ups.
So if the goal is success, then so is growth.
And that's the purpose of goals.
