Comments

I must say, one of the great features of this site is that you put up some fantastic links, and usually before the vast majority of people have found out about the phenomenon. It seriously helps in an MBA class where citing and using cutting-edge work meaningfully can win big payoffs.

Great stuff, thanks.

Posted by Daniel M. Harrison at January 4, 2006 3:22 PM

Very interesting!

I especially like the appreciation that different personality types can be successful in different ways and that one size does not fit all.

Personnaly this stuff strikes a real chord with me. I spent much of my working life wondering if there was something wrong with my motivation. I achieved many of my objectives and got praise and reward for them but inside I always had a nagging "so what". I have since realised that my principle motivation lies else where - in what I learn and discover and in fitting bits of the jigsaw together. The more I found about myself the more I have also learned of the fabulous variety in otheres too.

Large companies seem especially poor in recognising the need to treat people as individuals and offer a one size fits all to reward and motivation.

Posted by PaulH at January 5, 2006 4:18 AM

What is this big deal about goal-free living?

The flow of life implies that life is spontaneous and you are acting it out. Our being is blessed and spontaneous because it is. And fulfilling it with nature automatically fulfills your purposes and, in your terms, your responsibility.

In spontaneity there is a discipline that utterly escapes you, and an order beyond any that you know. Spontaneity knows its own order.

But our society with its laws and rules equates spontaneity with irresponsibility; abandon with evil. Our educational system is in sad straits because we have denied spontaneity or fulfillment to individuals, and ALL our institutions are based upon that premise.

We must learn to trust our natural selves more often. Our social institutions are set up to fence in the individual, rather than to allow the natural development and growth of the individual.

Posted by multidimid at January 5, 2006 9:22 AM

Great interview and interesting observations by Mr. Shapiro. Thank you.

So why does it rub me the wrong way when people who have achieved financial independence and have THEN changed their lifestyle, write a how to book for the rest of us. Perhaps he should have titled his book: "Goal-Free Living for the Financially Independent." It would have appeared more sincere.

Posted by Shawnie Benda at January 5, 2006 11:19 AM

Thanks for the new ideas.

In '05 I started flowing like the book suggests - I'd highlight though that OUTCOMES and deliverables are the best focus - and being able to change directions in a heartbeat.

It's more fun to be financially independent to make this work.

Posted by Sean at January 5, 2006 1:04 PM

It’s great to read the comments about Goal-Free Living. I am always fascinated by the various perspectives. A nationally syndicated article on Goal-Free Living by Cindy Hoedel received quite a bit of feedback from her readers. In fact, in a follow-on article, she wrote, “A recent column about rejecting goals proved to be more contentious than any topic I’ve written about.” Well, except for one on muddy dog paws.

Let me provide a few additional thoughts.

The goal-free approach can be applied to anything, not just career. You can be goal-free with your vacations – instead of planning out every minute, you go off the beaten path exploring the back roads. You can be goal-free about dating – letting things unfold rather than working exceptionally hard at finding your mate. You can be goal-free when attending business conferences – instead of focusing in on a few objectives to take away, just be there and soak in everything. I even have a blog entry about goal-oriented vs goal-free blogging. The goal-free concept is not the same as just doing what you love to do. It’s about meandering with purpose, being present every moment, and playing fully without blinders.

The point about money is frequently voiced.

Po Bronson wrote about the lock-box fantasy in “What Should I Do With My Life?” When faced with a choice between pursuing a “normal” job or some crazy dream, you can always take the job for a while, putting the dream in a lockbox, save up some money, and then return to the dream later. He writes that out of all the people he talked to, no one had ever been able to take this route. The people who’d promised themselves to return to the dream later never did.

Other studies have shown that people who “follow their bliss” often end up becoming wealthier than those who pursue money first and do what they really wanted to do later.
During my travels I met many goal-free people who were exceptionally happy, yet not wealthy. I met goal-free people who in spite of their less traditional paths, were quite well off. And I met quite a few goal-oriented people who were wealthy, yet unhappy. The correlation between happiness and money is a weak one. Even my statistically valid surveys show this.

I’d like to close with some words from Cindy Hoedel’s second article.

“If you think certain conditions need to be met before you can be happy, you’re sunk. If, on the other hand, you get a surge of happiness from ice crystals on the windshield or the scent of freshly shampooed hair or the sound of leaves in the wind, you’ve pretty much got it made.

“Some friends and colleagues have questioned my self-proclaimed lack of goals. They point out that there are things I want and pursue. It’s semantics. I have wants and desires. They are not measurable (“have more fun”) and there is no penalty for not achieving them. They arise, change and dissipate like cloud formations, without warning.

“And so with the New Year soon upon us, I resolve to continue enjoying the good things that come my way every day: chance conversations with strangers, lingering in a warm bed on cold mornings, sitting in a darkened cinema, the smell of new snow.”

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