Ryu's Blog

I like goals, as it helps give directions to my life. When I was younger, I had goals like becoming a good basketball player, being able to draw a manga, or read X number of books. When I was older, there were goals like being able to express myself through guitar/saxophone, doing X amount of exercise per week, or being able to read fiction in Japanese.

Where do those goals come from? A lot of them involve being competent enough to impress people, which in turn will help me feel better about myself. Some goals might help me feel better about myself directly (e.g. having read certain kind of books) as they align my actions to some identities I like.

I don’t know how many of my goals are due to intrinsic vs extrinsic motives. I think a lot are extrinsic. Playing video games or watching movies are enjoyable in themselves as far as I recall. These activities don’t require much effort, and in the case of games give clear feedback, but the satisfaction they bring seems to be short-lived. Drawing and playing guitar are fun to some extent. But to get better requires hard work and discipline. And at some point, the question arises as whether it’s worth to commit the time and what do I ultimately want to get out from them. The same goes for learning a new language or other goals that require deliberate practice and commitment.

Young people can dream big, as they have time on their side. The range of possibility get narrower as one grows older. People might discover that what they want to do are not worth doing or less important than they initially thought. Or they might not have the time or energy to do them.

I like goals, but still not sure how to choose them. What kind of person do I want to become? What activities do I enjoy and can bring me satisfaction? In what area do I have a comparative advantage (or does it matter)? I crave to have a single-minded focus in something (or do I really want a more balanced lifestyle?). That something won’t appear itself. The strategy I’ll run with for now is to set a few specific goals and see if any of them stick.