Goals and Infinite Runners
On New Year's Eve, I was chatting online with some friends, and the topic of setting goals for the approaching year came up. Even if you don't participate in making a New Year's resolution, most people have hopes and goals for their lives in the coming year. The importance of setting goals is preached far and wide through blog articles, YouTube videos, business schools, leadership books, and self-improvement courses. However, I have some questions concerning goals which I asked that night.
How vital are goals for children of God?
Is there a difference between an assignment and a goal?
If the purpose of a believer's life is to walk with God wherever he wants to go and do whatever he tells you to do—is that a goal, or is it something else?
These questions have been rolling around in my head for the past few years because progress on my dreams and goals has seemingly stalled, leaving me asking God what to do with these goals. And if I am even thinking about goals correctly in the first place.
Endless games have been around since the early days of video games, but the invention of mobile touchscreen devices catapulted a subgenre of games known as endless runners, or infinite runners, into the hearts, minds, and hands of the masses. Controlling your character with taps and swipes is the perfect input form for an infinite runner. Not only are touch gestures the most direct and natural interaction, but they also feel satisfying. As a result of this intuitive input, these games have seen massive hits and appeal to a wide demographic of ages and skill levels. Over the years, our family has been hooked on various titles, including Temple Run, Minion Rush, Jetpack Joyride, and Tiny Wings.
Infinite runners are the best metaphor for my thinking on goals at the moment—and to be clear, I'm not sure goals is the right word, but we'll get to that. If I could pinpoint the center of my trouble with goals, it is the tension between the finite and the infinite, the concrete and the ephemeral.
If you google what makes a good goal, you will find that the best types of goals are known as SMART Goals.
Specific.
Measurable.
Attainable.
Relevant.
Time Bound.
The more concrete and defined a goal is—the better the goal. There is comfort in it; you can point to it as a group and say, do you see this? This is what we're aiming at. You can also measure your progress towards it and compare it against previous goals. Measurability is helpful in most aspects of life, but especially in business. Nonetheless, the things that truly matter aren't finite and can't be neatly measured—they are infinite and ephemeral—things like the fruits of the spirit, character, and virtue. They are infinitely vast and deep; like an infinite runner, you can never reach their end.
The unattainable nature of the deep, important goals is probably why the success gurus constantly remind their audiences to fall in love with the process—because it's about the pursuit rather than the destination—which is why I question if the goal is the correct language to communicate this idea in the first place.
It makes me wonder if Adam and Eve had goals while walking with God through the garden. I suspect they didn't. I imagine they were filled to the brim with peace and pleasure. There was no striving for accomplishment or attempting to prove themselves. I doubt they even had a TODO list.
I'm sure I'll adopt some different language instead of the word goal in the future. Regardless, if you pressed me to name a goal for this year, I would tell you this: the definition of a goal is the object toward which an endeavor is directed. If that is the case, then my goal is God.
