Welcome to Stoic Snippets,
The track that is short in time but not in depth.
We often think that goal-setting is for the uber-productive,
The go-getters or just anyone in the first week of January.
Reality is though,
Goals impact your life whether you want them to or not,
Whether you've set them or not.
You see,
You're always moving towards something.
Your choices,
Or lack thereof,
Don't keep the status quo.
Your inaction doesn't keep you stationary.
You are swept up in the flow of life just like anyone else,
Whether you want to be or not.
The world around you is always changing,
Always moving,
Even if you want to stay still.
As such,
You are moving towards some end,
Even when you aren't aiming.
It is for this reason that Seneca writes,
Life without design is erratic.
Because when we take no ownership of our life,
We are swept by life and fate to any corner it chooses.
To be clear,
To have a plan doesn't stop fate applying to our lives,
But it does do three things.
One,
It gives us a rudder in which to direct our lives.
Two,
It helps us to direct our limited resources towards one thing instead of being fragmented.
And three,
It changes how we feel about the direction we are going.
You see,
Our brains are hardwired to feel good when we move towards a goal and bad when we move away from a goal.
This is one of the prime jobs of dopamine,
The neurotransmitter.
Without goals,
Our brains have a hard time defining what is good and what is bad.
So you can really help your brain out by letting it know where you are aiming so it knows when you are on track.
Seneca poetically captured this by saying,
With no port in mind,
No wind is favorable.
So by having goals,
We're able to give our life some direction.
We're also able to make sure our limited resources of time and energy are used towards one goal instead of multiple.
And lastly,
You are able to recruit your emotions to help you stay on course by feeling good as you move toward them.
So I implore you,
Design your life today.
Start by just choosing where it is you want to go.
And this may take time.
So allow yourself that time,
That space today to really think about where you are now and where you would like to be.
Each week,
You can check in again and make sure that you are on track.
With this plan,
You can stop your life being erratic.
With this plan,
You can feel good about moving towards your goal.
Good luck out there.
I'm rooting for you.
If you want even more help with designing your life and keeping on track,
Then consider coming on my retreat this year.
We're going to be covering a lot of this stuff and it'd be great to have you there in person.
Hope to see you there.
