Setting goals, and working towards them, means that we’re always in one of two unhappy states. We’re either striving to achieve the goal, in which case we’re unhappy because we haven’t got there yet. Or, we’re busy setting new goals and trying to achieve those after reaching our previous goals.
The ‘normal work career’ or even schooling revolves around this goal-driven mindset: acquiring skills so we can move up to higher grades. Higher grades mean higher pay. Higher pay means better stuff, or more power or more control, or more responsibility.
The problem with these sorts of goals is there’s a ceiling. What happens when you reach the dizzying heights of CEO, or President, or the world’s first Trillionaire. There’s always another goal to invent to give us something strive for. It seems that money, power, and control don’t necessarily bring contentment.
Perhaps it’s better to play an infinite game—a game where there is no goal. At least we’re not chasing our tails in an infinite loop of unhappiness.