On Life Goals Without Numbers

“I just want to play the guitar a little better every day,” — Pat Metheny, one of the greatest jazz guitarists of our time.

At times you ask someone about their long-term goals or their dreams, and the answer comes back as a number — a specific sum, after which the person will supposedly “retire,” or decide they’ve finished walking their professional path.

It pains me to see this, and not because making money is a bad thing, but because numbers on their own carry no deeper meaning. Without something spiritual behind them, they often lead only to a feeling of emptiness, to regret over missed chances, and even to serious illness brought on by stress and dissatisfaction.

Over my years in business I’ve had more than a few partners with whom we lived through extraordinary stretches of growth. And then, at some point, they’d announce that they no longer wanted to move forward — they were content with what they’d built, and going further, with fresh risks and responsibility, had stopped bringing them any joy. But what if what they were doing simply never gave them a sense of genuine fulfilment? What if their only motivation had been the money?

Picture the head of a company who carries a specific personal target — to earn a certain sum. He gathers his people and announces: “You’re all here to earn me X, and after that you’re free, you’ll go find yourselves new jobs. Now, forward!” It’s striking how often this is never said out loud, yet is exactly what’s meant in practice. Can a team like that flourish, and for how long?

I meet successful entrepreneurs who complain about how hard it is to find people who think beyond the sums that hem them in. I’m regularly given examples of someone hitting their initial financial goal and then travelling restlessly, disappearing into spiritual practices, and, in the end, becoming lost as a business partner. Why does this happen? Most likely because the premise was false from the start, and once the basic needs were covered, the person ran into a crisis of identity and a lack of meaning in what they did.

Even with the visualization techniques that are so fashionable now — I’ve heard that some people dream like this: “I want to earn X.” How do you even picture that in your head? Stacks of banknotes?

What am I getting at with all this?

Money is a tool for reaching goals, but it can’t be a goal in itself.

True goals are the things that get us out of bed every morning, the things that bring satisfaction regardless of material rewards. The drive to become better, the wish to contribute to society, to leave a mark on history, or simply to make life better for the people around us. To become the best at your craft, say, to make a meaningful discovery, to rid the world of a slice of its troubles, to build something, to share what you know.

The scale of the intention can vary: we might want to succeed in our own town, in our country, or on the world stage.

When we reach our true goals, we gain both the money and the happiness of fulfilling our own genuine desires — not the urges society and social media press upon us. And the path itself, the process, can be every bit as valuable as the result. Life is too many-sided to be confined to numbers and rigid frames.

Want to know how far a person can go? Ask them how they put their dreams into words, and what “ceiling” they set for themselves.

Here’s to setting goals without numbers and without a ceiling! 😎