The United States runs on goals. We are a nation motivated to achieve, strive, and hustle. While our counterparts in Europe pause to enjoy the day, take the scenic route, and simply rest, Americans tend to be restless, even during downtime.
I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit recently—especially how we relate to goals. In particular, I’ve been ruminating on how goals intersect with my two passions: purpose and financial planning. What I’ve come to realize is that goals can sometimes serve the role of strawmen—they give us a measurable framework for things, but more often than not, that’s all they are.
Here’s why that matters.
Goals-based financial planning
Over the past decade, a growing number of advisors started selling “goals-based financial planning.” In essence, this approach created a framework around budgeting, saving, and investing so they feel more manageable.
I don’t want to downplay the importance of applying this framework. Many people are intimidated by money and feel powerless over their finances—anything financial advisors can do to help people develop agency and a sense of control over their finances is a good thing.
The devil (as always) is in the details. While the point of goals-based planning seems obvious—to help you reach your goals—that’s not always the case. Say your goal is to retire comfortably. Your financial advisor may take that goal, use your current lifestyle to estimate your expenses in retirement, and work backwards to figure out what size your retirement account(s) need to be by what date to ensure you meet that goal.
At the end of the exercise, your goal has been translated to a dollar sign that may or may not reflect your vision of a comfortable retirement. There are numerous assumptions at play—when you talk about a “comfortable” retirement, do you mean a continuation of your current lifestyle, or could you be comfortable with less? Or does a comfortable retirement mean the freedom to travel and indulge in the things you’ve been putting off—something which could require more resources than your current baseline.
Often, we select goals that roughly align with vague ideas we have about the future and stop there. That isn’t enough. It’s critical that we do the work to examine our goals.
If your goal is to retire with a million dollars, ask yourself: Why is that? Do you simply have a preconceived notion that you need a million dollars? Do you like the idea of being a millionaire? Was this a goal you came up with on your own, or is it something you adopted from the people around you?
For goals-based financial planning to truly work, we need to start with authentic goals. That requires a bit of self reflection re: how you define success and why you chose this particular target. And that’s where purpose comes in.
Goals vs. purpose
I tend to talk about purpose the same way some financial advisors talk about goals—defining your purpose provides you with a framework. It helps you define what you want to get out of this life and how you interact with the world around you.
One advantage that purpose has over goals? It’s a less popular concept.
Our society has become so goal oriented that people feel compelled to have and work towards goals, even if the exercise is merely performative. On the other end of the spectrum, some people take goal setting and achievement to heart such that they can’t relax until they’ve hit their target. (We see this a lot with entrepreneurs and business owners.)
This type of oversaturation can dull the impact and effectiveness that we expect out of goal setting. Purpose, on the other hand, has managed thus far to escape dilution.
We are not a purpose-driven society (at least not yet). That means sitting down to think about your purpose requires a focus and intentionality that is often absent from goal setting. Overall, I find this to be a very good thing.
Purpose is about the direction you want to go in; it’s a guiding light. It doesn’t provide mile markers, and it doesn’t offer a list of destinations along the way.
That’s where goals come in. Think of goals as destinations. In life, you’re bound to journey toward more than one destination. And not all destinations are equal—it’s hard to compare the Grand Canyon to a gas station, for instance, but both are important destinations on a road trip.
How goals and purpose work together
When you start to think about goals in the context of your purpose, it creates perspective. You might start to question why you’re attached to certain goals. I will be the first to tell you: That can be deeply unsettling.
In a goal-oriented society, changing your mind can feel like a rebellious act. There’s an implication that you failed. But if you let go of that notion, it can be liberating to let go of a goal that’s no longer serving you. If you realize a goal does not align with your purpose, the bravest thing you can do is pause and recalibrate your destination.
In short, goal setting is a good thing—but it’s become so popular that it can start to feel commoditized if you aren’t careful. Purpose can provide context. When you do the work to create a mission statement for your life, you naturally start to evaluate how your goals align with your purpose. That tends to result in more meaningful and measurable goals. In other words, adding purpose to the equation can protect us from complacency.
