What should you do with your life? I’ve asked, and been asked, this question often. And while I can’t give a decisive formula for answering it, I have made one realization: most of the standard advice is terrible. Whether it’s multiple-choice personality quizzes that tell you to be a farmer, security guard or laboratory assistant […]
Why Goal-Setting Can Leave You Miserable
There are really only two reasons to set a goal: instrumental reasons and experiential reasons. When you set a goal for instrumental reasons, it is because the object of the goal will improve your happiness, lifestyle or contribute to some larger purpose. For example, if you’re incredibly overweight, changing your lifestyle may add several years […]
