The Tao of Goals -- Self Concordant Goals

"If you don't have a plan, plan to fail."

I have become convinced that goals and vision are the keys to success, but in contemporary America, in my opinion we don't see the whole picture when it comes to creating goals and creating a vision. There are missing pieces and in this aspect, I truly believe we can learn a lot from both Eastern culture, and from the wisdom of the ancients.

The fact is merely creating goals is not enough, one needs to strike balance between structure and insight, logic and intuition, mind and heart -- otherwise, goals are going to lack impact. What it means is the most important thing is creating mindful, self-concordant goals. Self-concordant goals are ones that emanate from within, also referred to as 'intrinsic.' The great writer Shakespeare said, "To thine own self be true. And it must follow as the day the night, thou canst not then be false to any other man." When it comes to creating a vision and setting good goals, nothing is truer. The more that our goals reflect our true self, our true inner desires then the more powerful, energizing, and motivating they become, and greater chance we have to realize them.

In Steven Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, one of his top rules is to "begin with the end in mind" and essentially what Covey is referring to is the need to create the goal. I like to think of it as vision. Vision is even greater than goals, because it infers a sense of greater meaning and purpose, something with emotional power that comes from the heart and soul. And, I see the goals and strategies as important steps and elements of the structure of that greater vision.

What it boils down to is that living a life without any destination is merely floating or drifting with no clear sense of purpose. There are times we have all wanted to float a bit; in fact, floating can be a great break from reality. I actually did this for quite some time (too long!) in my twenties, and it was something that I don't regret. However, I got tired of it after a while. I am sure that I learned and gained so much though by living that way. What I came back to was a realization of the need for balance in life. Ultimately it is balancing the inner vision with outer structure and step by step pathway to achievements. The Buddha said we must take the middle path and that is the ultimate path particularly when it comes to vision and goals.