Don’t Chase Goals, Solve Problems

Obviously, it’s good to have goals, right? Yes and no.

Yes, having goals is good, however, there just might be something better.

Whether they mean it or not, our parents and teachers have always told us to set goals and to have dreams. And to keep striving towards them until we make it.

The problem is, this is a flawed strategy. Having goals and trying to achieve them may actually be the wrong approach.

Why Are They Bad?

Okay, they’re not bad, but let’s highlight the problems.

Goals, especially the big, long-term ones, take a long time to achieve. It’s the time it takes that causes shit.

A lot can happen between the time the goal is set and the moment of achieving it.

On the road to success, your motivation behind setting that goal may change. The person who set that goal may not and probably won’t be the same as the one achieving it.

This can introduce the sunk cost fallacy, the feeling that because you’ve come this far, you may as well keep going.

This can create a situation where you’re living a life and heading towards one you no longer want, but because you’ve put so much blood, sweat and tears towards getting it, you’d feel it would be a waste if you were to suddenly change course.

Goals, and goals of this nature, can also be vague. What are you actually trying to get? Success? Well, that definition will change as you mature and experience more life, so who’s to say success means the same to two very different versions of yourself?

Not to mention the frustration that setting goals can create. You’re not there yet, meaning you’re not good enough, you don’t work hard enough, you need to do more, and you can’t be happy or satisfied until you make it.

Not a very worthwhile sacrifice in achieving something shallow that you only set as a way to solve a problem you didn’t like.

And just like that, we have the solution.

Solving Problems

You didn’t like being poor, so you strived towards making a lot of money. You didn’t like being told what to do, so you strived towards freedom. And you didn’t like being called a loser, so you strived towards proving them wrong.

What do all of these have in common? 

They arose from problems. Goals were set as a way of solving very specific, and sometimes even non-related problems.

So, instead of setting goals, solve problems.

What’s the difference? Although you may be thinking these are two ways of achieving the exact same thing, they actually differ immensely.

If you view it as achieving a goal, your mind is set on a very specific outcome. By solving a problem, you allow room for that solution to that problem to grow and change alongside yourself.

This means that during that very long and bumpy road towards success, what you choose to do along the way has room to adjust.

Instead of trying to get something you may not want, you’re trying to solve something that will always be there, and also has multiple paths leading to its solution.

You’ll always want to remove the negative more than you’d ever want the positive, giving you that extra motivation.

Problems are also right in front of you, you see and face them every single day of your life. But you’ll never truly know what it feels like to achieve your goal until the moment you achieve it, and by then, you’ll be thinking about the next.

The devil you know is better than the devil you don’t.

So the next time you set a goal, ask yourself this: “What problem am I trying to solve here? And what may differ in my approach if I were to concentrate on solving that problem?”

The answer may surprise you!