A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. —Lao Tzu
Can you really go without goals?
On January 1st, I published an article where I boldly proclaimed that I was wasn’t making New Year’s resolutions but, that I would follow my bliss and intuition instead.
Fifteen minutes after pushing “publish,” I was scratching my head wondering, “How the heck do I do this?”
How do I accomplish anything without having goals?
I decided I better speak with Leo Babauta, whom I had cited in the post as an example of someone successfully implementing this philosophy.
Thankfully, Leo spoke with me and I can now say, “I get it!” If you too find the concept of letting go of goals, yet still achieving confusing listen to this recording.
Listen to our conversation here: 
Here’s a summary of what we spoke about:
1. Can you explain the process of how to go without goals?
Follow your passion and bliss instead. Do what your excited about. When you work on what you love you don’t need a goal.
2. Why do you say goals are limiting?
Goals create a path that limit you from accepting new opportunities. You feel as if you have to stick to this one narrow path. But, life is unpredictable. Setting goals supposes life is predictable, when it’s not. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t need goals if you allow yourself to be flexible and explore new opportunities.
3. How can people like me who are habitual goal makers and list makers break this habit?
Examine whether you are doing things out of habit or is goal setting truly helping you. Try to let go of the end result and just do things for the enjoyment. I stop myself when I set a goal and consciously focus on the process instead. It’s more about enjoyment than the end result. So where you end up doesn’t matter. You don’t need to achieve anymore because the process is the achievement.
4. My fear is that I’ll be a lazy and get nothing done without goals. How do I deal with this fear?
Most fears are irrational. To overcome the fear – experiment and test it. See what would happen if you let go of goals for one day. If you still get a lot done without goals try it for two days or a week. You’ll prove to yourself that it’s an irrational fear.
5. Do you ever have a day where you don’t accomplish anything?
Accomplishments are secondary. If I’m writing – I love writing. If I’m playing with my kids, spending time with my wife or out in nature, I might not have “accomplished” anything but, I enjoyed myself so that’s still an accomplishment. Does your bliss have to be productive? When kids play, they aren’t thinking about being productive. We learned this in school and at work. Toss this all out and go back to being like a kid and just be happy. Play. Don’t focus on the achievement. Go back to a childlike state of wonder.
6. What’s next? What are you working on?
I’m working on a course with Courtney Carver about de-cluttering to teach others how to get rid of their clutter. I’m also considering developing a course on mindfulness and meditation with Susan O’Connell of the San Francisco Zen Center.
And much more of our discussion:
The distinction between goals and desires.
Goals can be useful to some individuals.
Importance of testing the theory of whether you truly need goals
How philosopher Lao Tzu influenced Leo’s thinking about “no goals.”
Why living without goals is freeing.
How releasing goals allows you to enjoy each step of your journey.
Thank you Leo, for speaking with me and alleviating my concerns about going without goals.
What I understand now is that goals aren’t the problem, it’s our “either or” approach to them. If we make achieving a specific outcome the goal we may be so rigid that we do not allow ourselves to deviate from this “narrow path.” Whereas, if we allow our bliss or passion to lead us, we may be led to something entirely different than we had in mind but, even better than we ourselves could have imagined. When we are fully present we experience the beauty of living in every moment. And, the discoveries we make while being led by our bliss are the true joys and gifts of our journey.
Do you have other questions about going without goals? Do you think this might have a positive impact upon your life? Are you willing to experiment and try it for a short while?
If you enjoyed this post please be social and share it with others. Thank you.
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Leo Babauta is an author, journalist and creator of Zen Habits. Zen Habits is one of the most visited blogs on the Internet. Leo has been named among Time Magazine’s top 25 Bloggers several times. Leo’s books include: The Effortless Life, Focus, The Little Guide to Un-Procrastination, Zen to Done, The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life, The Zen Habits Handbook for Life.*
*bio written by A. Artemis
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Hi Angela,
I haven’t listened to the interview yet so/but thanks for outlining it here for us. I’ve heard Leo speak (and read his writing) on this before so I’ll make a few comments.
First, I really like your conclusion that it’s not an either/or thing. I also don’t think we need to be rigid about it either way.
Personally, I’m kind of with Irving where I do envision accomplishing certain things, but only because I know they are in synch with my being already. (And if at some point they’re not, I feel free to change them.) That means that if I am really in the moment, it’s likely I will be moving toward them anyway. At the same time, I leave my visions fairly loose and general; more a sense of how I’ll feel than exactly how it looks.
Some people love moving toward very specific goals, it’s what turns them on in any given moment, and it serves their ultimate purpose as well. Sometimes it’s even fun to do things that way; making it into kind of a contest can be motivating.
When I did a channeling shortly after New Years, this ended up being a part of the topic. It was much about finding our direction from that space of here/now that is infinite/eternal, where all our power lies.
Thanks for this. I’m eager to listen now that I’ve spouted off. :-b
Hi Patti,
I’m striving to be less goal oriented.
More “Free-falling” and less driven.
It’s wonderful that you already have this tendency to “allow” whatever happens to take shape and lead you.
I’m trying to get away from the goals to allow for more spontaneity.
I hope you enjoy the interview once you listen to it!
OK, I listened. I think you’re an excellent interviewer, and I admire your persistence at getting your question(s) answered!
As I listened I realized that I’m not a big goal-setter and actually tend to operate a bit more like what Leo is suggesting already. I do find it helpful to set goals now and then but I remain pretty flexible about them. I even like staying flexible about whether I set goals or not … that way I don’t have to live up to a goal to not have goals, ha ha.
Thanks to both of you. Interesting discussion.
Thank you Patti!
I’m glad you enjoyed the interview.
I’m having doubts as to whether I can do this or not.
I get up and want to make goals for the day…without them I feel panicky.
I totally agree with what Leo said – that’s exactly how I live my life. Once you back away from the structure of “work” that gets so ingrained while we’re toiling away for a company, and create some space, you flow naturally into this way of existing. It’s truly NOT that you “don’t have any goals” (like you are lazy and won’t accomplish anything). It’s like, you create a space so then you can accomplish EVERYTHING.
Julie,
I love that!
“You create a space so then you can accomplish EVERYTHING!” Brilliant.
I can’t think of another thing to say – which odd for me!
Hi Leo and Angela,
This was a wonderful interview! And the great thing about the interview is that everything that Leo shared feels so right and natural.
I don’t have a fixed or rigid goal. Rather, I set a destination, a passion and how I get there is entirely up to me. This allows me a great degree of flexibility to reach my destination. It is a grand passion of sorts that pulls me towards it. It is something that I feel passionately about and desire with my heart and soul. Nothing else could motivate me otherwise to strive towards it.
As Leo rightly points out, life is unpredictable. There are so many things that can happen at any time. If we rigidly adhere to one path and it leads to a dead end, it is all over. Being flexible enough to switch lanes and still keep moving forward is key to reaching that grand passion.
Thank you for sharing this lovely interview!
Irving the Vizier
Hi Irving,
I’m so glad you enjoyed the interview.
It does all seem to come so naturally to Leo, doesn’t it?
For me, not so natural. I’m a very driven person and used to making goals and achieving them.
It’s been harder for me than I thought.
I’m going to focus on doing what makes me the happiest each day.
My model is the childlike wonder that Leo spoke about.
Children don’t set goals they just play.
I’m going to get up everyday and ask myself, “What do I want to play today?”
Whatever that thing is that speaks to me that day I’ll devote myself to fully.
Great interview Angela and Leo! I read Leo’s blog and know about his “no goal” stance. I’ve told many people about Leo’s ideas. They sometimes have trouble understanding how it can really work. It’s obviously worked for Leo!! I actually enjoy my goals! Maybe I look at them differently than others. I’m very excited by what I want to do this year. And I’m flexible! If I have a time frame I can let go of that if need be.
Great interview!!! It gave me a lot to think about!
Betsy,
That sounds great! I’m a very goal oriented person but I found that the last two years nearly killed me because I was so hell-bent on achieving these goals. I’m going to try to relax and allow myself more flexibility to follow my intuition rather than go item by item crossing things off my list this year.
I do have a general idea of what I’d like to accomplish but I’m going to take Leo’s advice and not focus on the end result but on the journey.
Perhaps this will make it more enjoyable for me this year.
For example I’m developing a course to go along with my book but I’m not going to focus on the “end-result” how many are sold for example. I’m going to focus on creating an amazing product that I can be really proud of. I enjoy the creative process. After I create it I’ll see if I’m inspired to go further with it for example doing a big launch or not.
I’m so glad your excited about your 2012 goals. Please let me know how I can help you Betsy!
I’m a little confused about the “no-goals” philosophy.
For example, Leo wrote: “I’m also considering developing a course on mindfulness and meditation with Susan O’Connell of the San Francisco Zen Center.”
Wouldn’t that be a goal (assuming he actually decides to do it)?
David,
Yes, it does sound like a goal but what Leo said is that he tries not to focus on the end result. He he follows his bliss and feels like doing something he does it. If he isn’t inspired by his bliss or what I would call “intuition” he doesn’t do it. When he said he was considering it he hadn’t decided. I’m guessing he’s waiting to get clearer on how he feels about doing it.
So, he’s not making list of things he wants to get done. He waits to feel that inner calling toward doing something.
Does that make it any clearer?
I love the answer to question 5 about accomplishing things…or not. What a great way to look at things. I guess I have been living this way since November, but I didn’t realized it was really a chosen approach. I thought I was just being unfocused and directionless. But each day seems full and satisfying. Hmmm, I really need to rethink this. Thank you!!
Hi Galen,
Happy New Year! I’m so glad you enjoyed this and like #5. I feel much more at ease about it now.
I understand that what I was aiming, “following my intuition” is what Leo meant when he advised to go without goals.
You’re so welcome.
What a pleasure it is to have you visit!
Hi Angela,
Some need a “structure” to follow & to aim at(Goals) others don’t. Goals that excite & are filled with passion are still rewarding. Personally, I like to have a broad Game Plan that allows me detours for extra possibilities and also gives me a direction for my eventual arrival. I can always tweek it if the detour is too enticing. Thank you for sharing.
be good to yourself
David
Hi David,
You have to do what works for you. It sounds like a good plan that has lots of flexibility in it.
I have always needed structure so we’ll see how I do with this “experiment.”
Thanks David.