Guest blog by Lakshmi Sithambaram, ACC
As each year comes to an end, and the new year dawns, there is so much of hustle and bustle about the goals that you’ve achieved and the new goals that you are to set for yourself. There is tacit stress that has started to build around something that was once so much fun and motivating. Most of the time we are measuring ourselves on an invisible scale against others, often feeling the need to speed up to keep up.
What intrigues me is whether the goals that we set nowadays, are our own or ones that are socially accepted at our age? I gave myself some time to debate that thought and gain some clarity. I realize that I have always believed that setting goals are very important in every stage of life. They help motivate our choices and decisions, giving us the clarity to work towards reaching our potential. However, the goals that we aspire to reach should be true to what we value in our life and also help us move towards being self- actualized individuals. It should not be a checklist that has been socially agreed upon. That takes the fun out of goal setting. And does goal setting really have to be a “serious” task?