Do you have goals, aims or neither in life?

[holstein13]

Everybody talks about how important it is to have goals, but I disagree. A goal has to be specific, measurable, and has a deadline. (For example, retire at 60 years old with x dollars in the bank) Sorry, but I don't like goals and nobody has ever convinced me that they lead to success or happiness.

Aims, on the other hand, may not be specific or measurable and they definitely don't have deadlines. For example, my aims in life are to live a long, healthy, happy life. That's it. No specifics involved. If I get off track and eat poorly or don't exercise for a few days, no problem, I can get right back on track and aim in the right direction immediately.

It seems to me that travelers can be classified the same way. Some have goals (i.e. to see all 48 contiguous states in one year) and some have aims (I'll head South for the winter). I would imagine that some don't have either goals or aims and simply take each day as it comes and let nature follow its course.

So, do you have goals, aims, or neither?

[2milesup]

mowermech wrote:
At the present time, my only goal (objective, idle dream, whatever...)
is to live to be 100 years old.
I am almost 3/4 of the way there; so far, so good.

I once worked for a guy who said that his goal was to live to be 90 then be shot by a jealous husband.

:W

[mowermech]

At the present time, my only goal (objective, idle dream, whatever...)
is to live to be 100 years old.
I am almost 3/4 of the way there; so far, so good.

[clydengail]

No goals, aims or objectives. Just hope that tomorrow will be as good or better than today!

[TOMMY47]

My primary goal is getting up in the morning on the top side of the ground.

[FULLTIMEWANABE]

Great thought provoking thread you started OP!

Goals? Aims? Two of several labels we use in everyday life. Aren't they the same thing? Isn't the interpretation personal to each and everyone of us? Most of us know about the corporate preaching years ago of setting SMART goals etc, but not all goals are SMART just because someone else decided that SMART should be a formula for them.

I am a goal setter and my hubby is an aimer (LOL).

My hubby has an aim to reach the bathroom before it's too late with undesirable results.
I have a goal to reach the bathroom before it's too late with undesirable results.

Don't we have the same intention to achieve the desired end result?

In all seriousness though, folks that say they don't have goals and don't plan, I find that an impossibility. We all have goals, plans and aims many times a day in all of our daily lives, some are just more elaborate goals/aims/plans than others depending on our nature, but we all have goals and plans.

Each night my goal is to make it to bed and I aim to wake up the next morning to another beautiful day, what about you?

[D___M]

Wow! We still have 2 1/2 of winter.

[bsinmich]

After doing financial planning for several years I retired at 55 and having been retired for 21 years so my clients can see I practiced what I preached. I still get many calls from former clients and still have a license for insurance. I had goals in the financial planning. Now I let the weather make a lot of decisions for me.

[dave54]

GaryWT wrote:
To camp as much as I can and to pay my last bill off before I die but that one really does not matter to me if I am dead.

Good financial planning is spending your last dollar with your dying breath.

[frankdamp]

Holstein13:

My grandfather said "Aim for the moon - you might hit a street-lamp".

[_Sea_Of_No_Care]

My head hurts reading some of these replies. I think some of you are getting in the way of yourselves and over thinking it(life). Now that DW is retired and I work as little as I want, which right now is NONE:) our goals are to wake up and have fun, period. We are currently in our second month of a seven month trip and we have no idea really where we will be going next when we leave NOLA except it will be west. This plan of just flying by the seat of our pants, building memories and enjoying each other today seems to work for us. I would suggest to a lot of you to just relax and give try it too. Having no real plan is a blast!! Have a great day!!

Dave

[Cloud_Dancer]

I did NOT set smart goals, back at age when I should've.
Consequently, at age 75, I would appreciate another chance.

[valhalla360]

holstein13 wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Lots of semantics about terms.

Bottom line: A vague idea to be happy and healthy is pointless if you don't determine what makes you happy and healthry and that requires a plan.

There are 360 degrees in a circle. If you don't know which direction your destination is, you are more likely to move away from your destination than towards it.

Yes, you must determine what makes you happy and healthy, but no, that doesn't require a plan. It requires thoughtful analysis and maybe measurements against a baseline or a standard. Once you know what makes you happy and healthy, just aim in that direction.

You just described goal setting.

[noe-place]

When I was a kid my goal was to reach 30. Job well done. After that my goal was to have a successful career. Job well done. After that my goal was to retire with full benefits (and wise financial planning) and medical insurance so DW and I would never have to pay out of pocket or need money. Job well done. After that my goal has been to be as happy as possible and spend the rest of my life with the girl I married 42 years ago. Currently an ongoing enjoyable process.

[holstein13]

8iron wrote:
Call it what you want but advice I received from my Grandfather when I was younger and knew everything: "Decide what you want. Write it down. Make a plan. And work on it. Every. Single. Day."

"Decide what you want"

That's the problem with your grandfather's plan. Human beings are really, really bad at deciding what they want. I'm not singling anyone out, I think we are all bad at it.

As another person posted, we humans overestimate future events effect on our happiness. Knowing that is one of the keys to happiness.

I say always aim in the direction you want to go (similar to working on your plan every day) and adjust your aim as necessary based upon current information.

[traveylin]

what was the original thought??Every one does need a financial plan but at retirement I put regulation aside. We do what we want to do to work off our bucket list. Is a bucket list a plan.