In education it seems that everyone's so outcome oriented. As though we need to have learning objectives and goals and the rest of it. I'm like that a little bit but mostly I'm not. It's not that I drift aimlessly, it's more that I'm more about discovering than getting things done. Jeff Goins writes, "resolutions are pipe dreams, and goals are a waste of time. They are designed to trick you into believing all you need to change your life is a plan." Sounds like most business strategies I know. But as he says, "most of it was completely unplanned. How did I do it? By creating new disciplines I actually liked doing. I wasn’t only fixated on the end results; I also enjoyed the process." I think there's a lot of that to my own work. I read daily. I write daily. I improve my software as my experience suggests. I force myself into challenges. I help others and offer my work as a service to the community. What - by contrast - would an objective look like to me? "Publish five papers?" "Become famous?" "Earn more money?" "Complete my taxes?" Well, OK, there's the last one. I really should get that done. But the objectives seem, when compared to my real existence, so trivial. So pointless. So - yeah, if you have to, set goals. But remember that excellence isn't a goal, it's a way of being. But I think it's better to cultivate good habits. The opportunities for service will arise, as they always do for any person of quality. (Image source)
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