Man plans. God laughs.
Having just been caught in the moment of New Year’s and setting our goals for 2025, it’s now time to toss them out the window – if we haven’t already. I mean, seriously, when it is a challenge to even predict a day ahead, how can we possibly predict the year ahead? We can all probably look back to one year ago and see how impossible that is. As the old Yiddish adage goes, “Man Plans. God laughs.”
It’s time to talk about goals . . .
As we enter the New Year, it’s time for my much-anticipated post about goals. I’ve said this many times before, but goals can be dangerous. Of course, it’s often beneficial and productive to aspire. Ambition gives us purpose, and in any journey, purpose is what it’s all about. The danger in goals is not about the possibility of falling short or setting expectations that turn out to be unattainable – in fact, there’s much to learn from that – rather, it’s about making sure that whatever goal I set will truly further what I want to achieve.
First, as I share my thoughts on goals, I understand that goals are personal. This area, more than any other, is one where none of us are the same and the differences in our lives matter the most when looking ahead to what we want to achieve. But there is an underlying concept that all of us can benefit from when setting goals in our lives – focus them on the process, not the outcome.