Last Updated on January 10, 2025 by
As much of our destiny is beyond our control, what is the purpose of setting goals?
Swamiji Says
If we don’t have a plan, we will, by necessity, fit into someone else’s plan. If one day we wake up and wonder why we are not doing what we want, we will only have ourselves to blame.
It is not that we will bring every objective to fruition. But at the least, we will have had a goal. Without a goal, there can be no path; without a path, there can be no journey; without a journey, we wander through life; and in wandering there cannot be fulfilled.
The mind is happiest when we are pursuing an objective which we consider worthwhile. The pleasure of achieving our goal lasts only but a moment. But when we are working towards our goal, we feel the greatest delight.
I am the most pronounced example of that. Every time I finish writing a book, I am already outlining my next project.
When a tree ceases to produce leaves, it dies. I hope to be productive until my very end. In fact, that is how I will know that my time has come.
These are just a few of the reasons I feel it is important to plan life around goals: not because we will get everything we want, but because we will do something to try. That will keep us inspired, alive, full of joy, working towards a future we want.