George Will & Certitude

George Will, the well-known conservative columnist, recently addressed the University of Miami class of 2005. In his speech, he discusses the inherent dangers of certitude, and the power accidents. In his Newsweek article about his speech to these graduates, he says (excerpted): “The more they appreciate the complexity and improbability of everyday things…the more they […]

Quote of the Day

“Increasingly, our world consists of destinations and goals, with the times and spaces in between them eliminated by jet propulsion. Consequently, there is little satisfaction in reaching the goal, since a life full of endpoints is like trying to abate one’s hunger by eating merely the precise ends of a banana.” — Alan Watts

Goal-Free Denmark

Today I received an interesting email from someone who is a “recovering goalaholic” and is also Danish. He provided some interesting thoughts… “The Danish people are probably the most laid-back in the world. Although overtime pay can be substantial, American companies in Denmark often complain about the challenge of getting Danes to work overtime. In […]

A Grim Story About Goals

A friend wrote me today with an excerpt from the book Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. The main character is a prostitute who makes this observation: “Of course, everyone spoke ill of her profession, but, basically, it was all a question of selling her time, like everyone else. Doing things she didn’t want to do, […]

Give Up Goals and Start Learning

This past weekend I was an attendee in a workshop — a workshop on “how to design experiential workshops”. The first evening we did some very unusual things such as dancing, chanting, and meditating. I struggled to see how these “experiences” had anything to do with designing a workshop. The next morning was more of […]

Aspirations and Goals

In addition to goals, there are aspirations. Many people view these as being the same or similar, but they quite different. The origin of the word “goal” comes from the Old English word gal which means obstacle or boundary, and is related to the world gælan which is “to hinder.” Goals then, by definition, can […]

Determination

I attended a conference this weekend. One of the presenters was a top motivational speaker. Her presentation was mainly about how to set and achieve goals. And although I am goal-free, there were several things she said that resonated with me. She talked about how many times we get stuck where we are only because […]

Marrying Yourself

I had an interesting conversation with a woman this morning. She said that she “married” herself a few years ago. The purpose is to continually remind her of her commitment to doing for herself what she would do for a spouse. Love, time, and respect. Only after having this type of relationship with herself could […]

Being Goal-Free is More Than Fishing

On February 21st, I posted an email from a woman who wrote me about her “goal-free” story. Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing her via phone. Lynn is 43, a mother of 5, a busy professional, a wife, and she says she has never set a goal in her life, with the exception of […]

Detach from Technology

Technology can be a wonderful boon to man-kind. But sometimes we abuse it in ways that prevent us from really participating in life. I recently bought a BlackBerry. My original thinking was that this would free me from my computer and allow me to stay connected. Yes, it allows me to stay connected electronically, but […]