You might be surprised to hear this from someone who spent years helping organizations measure, track, and achieve metric-based goals as an analytics leader—and now helps individuals and teams accomplish personal and professional goals as a coach—but I’m not very into goals.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for growth and forward progress. But I’ve always struggled with the specificity and concreteness of traditional goals.
The Oxford Languages Dictionary defines a “goal” as “the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.” A goal is all about the endpoint, which is great if you know exactly where you’re headed. But as someone who learns and optimizes as I go—taking in new information and adjusting along the way—I’ve often found traditional goal-setting limiting.
Living Without Concrete Goals
Despite my skepticism of rigid goal-setting, I do live my life with a strong sense of direction, aspiration, and clarity. It just doesn’t look like a neatly packaged set of specific, measurable objectives.
For example, I’ve never thought, “I want to achieve a director title by age X” or “I want to have my first child in year Y.” Instead, I’ve made thoughtful, well-informed decisions based on how my life was unfolding at the time.
Recently, a client shared something similar: While she’s been very goal-driven in the past, she’s in a season where her “goal” is simply to “do this job in front of me really well.” That’s a valid aspiration, even if it’s less concrete than a milestone like earning a promotion.
This led me to reflect: What is the purpose of having a goal? I believe goals are meant to inspire us and keep us on track as we make decisions. If that’s true, maybe we don’t always need a precise destination. Instead, we need a clear sense of direction—an understanding of what we want to move toward—that can serve as a foundation for ongoing learning and optimization.
Alternatives to Goal-Setting
For those of us who are ambitious and driven but don’t always have a crystal-clear vision of where we’re headed, here are some alternatives to traditional goals:
1. Live How You Want Your Life to Feel
Even if you don’t know exactly what you want to accomplish, you may have a sense of how you want the journey to feel.
Do you want your work environment to feel cozy, supportive, and fun? Or high-achieving, fast-paced, and bold?
Even with a concrete goal, like running a marathon, think about how you want the process to feel. Do you imagine early-morning track sprints with a timer or relaxed jogs with a friend while catching up?
When you focus on the feeling, it gives you enough of a map to make aligned decisions.
2. Live Your Values
Your core values—like community, kindness, or excellence—provide a blueprint for living with purpose.
Unlike specific goals tied to future milestones, living your values allows you to experience fulfillment every single day. You don’t have to wait for some future achievement to feel like you’re on track. (See this tool for an easy way to quickly explore what values resonate with you.)
3. Choose a Guiding Word
As we approach the New Year (everyone’s favorite time to set rigid goals… often with mixed to poor results!), one common path is choosing a guiding word instead of setting rigid goals.
Is this your year of growth, enough, or adventure? A single word can help you prioritize and make decisions in the moment, giving you a flexible sense of direction.
4. Try a Vision Board
I’ll admit—I was skeptical about vision boards at first. But over the past few years, I’ve become a convert.
A vision board allows you to take the vague, inspiring images in your mind and bring them to life. By choosing pictures, quotes, and symbols that resonate with you, you create a visual reminder of what you’re working toward and how you want to feel along the way.
What Inspires You?
As you look ahead to the new year, consider this: Do you need specific, measurable goals to stay motivated? Or would words, ideas, images, or feelings better capture the path you want to follow? And, no matter what, you can learn and adjust as you go - consider these starting points of continuous optimization.
Whatever inspires you—whether it’s a concrete target or a broader aspiration—choose something that feels true to you and helps you stay aligned with what matters most.