The vast majority of psychotherapeutic methods have embedded within their structure some kind of goal directed paradigm; this is particularly true for existential styled method. There is value to this. I came across this article that was counter-intuitive to those methods. The author, Leo Babauta, argues for the value of achieving without goals. He conducted a self experiment and found that instead of acting from goals, live out of principles and values. Among his insights:
- Love what you do. This seems obvious, but so often people do things that they’re not excited about. I try to find things that I love doing, and if there’s some mundane task I have to do for some reason, I either eliminate it or find a way to enjoy the hell out of it.
- Help others. I am strongly motivated by the desire to do things that will help people — my readers, my friends, my kids, people in need. And so this principle guides everything I do, including all of my writing. I highly recommend it.
- Build relationships & trust. Each thing you do, personally and for your business, should be building a relationship. I build relationships with my readers by being authentic and trying my best to help, and build relationships with friends & family in the same way. Being trustworthy as much as humanly possible is a great way to build relationships, so these two go hand-in-hand.
- Be curious. When you’re curious about other people, and about life in general, you tend to be a better listener, a better friend, more informed, and have fun each step along the way.