Monday, January 31, 2011

The Concept of Dreams and Aspirations I; Why "Being Yourself" is Not the Right Goal

Uh oh. Perhaps an edgy title? Oh gee. Perhaps I might offend someone here? Oh no!

First off, let me lead with my best card; what opinion I share here is what I believe to be true. I share it to help people, not to discourage them, for I am certain (if you understand my sometimes incoherent rambling) that what I will say will make sense one day to those who don't get it.

I once heard someone say in a class, "My goal is to always be myself." I don't have a problem with this goal; in fact, I think it's noble and a hell of a hard thing to do. There's one problem with it, though, and that is it's too empty. To say, "I'm always going to be myself," is like saying, "I'm going to act the way I want all the time." It's a bit selfish sounding when broken down as such, and it also highlights the glaring problem with that goal. You can't expect to ever "know" who you are. You can't. Your "self" is constantly and consistently changing. As The Flaming Lips put it, you just can't know yourself or what all you would do with all your power.

This is also totally skipping over the whole, "What if you were..." situation, where you certainly wouldn't be your outspoken self if your asshole boss told you to do something you didn't feel comfortable with, or else you would lose your job, putting your wife and five kids in harm's way.

There's also the concept of being the first one to state this dream, as people immediately think you are a deep thinker or a brilliant person. In stating that as your dream with that intention at all in your head, even just a little bit, you are ruining the noble concept of your statement, as you are using it for your personal gain. It's one thing to be sincere and state something meaningful. It's another to say it because you are referencing your favorite movie.

It's also not right to say this in a classroom setting as you saying that makes everyone else feel bad about their dreams. In saying this "dream" after other people have stated real, lasting dreams, you are destroying the very "dream" you believe in. "Being yourself," if that is your goal in life, should be limited to yourself. Being yourself should not prohibit others to be themselves either. If so, you take away their chance of being themselves, and destroying the concept of your dream to that one person, as well as those around you.

Finally, this statement is just not specific. The number one rule for any goal is to be specific. Specificity leads to success, as you know exactly what you want, and can therefore begin to look for the actions that are necessary to take to attain it. If you never know exactly what you want, you'll never know the steps or milestones to such a goal.

I am not here to say that being yourself is a bad thing. It's a great thing -- no one should be a character all the time. But in stating that it's your goal and aspiration to follow that characteristic, you already set yourself up for trouble. Set some short-term and long-term goals for yourself and find yourself along the way.

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