Happy "Knew" Year 🎆

Things I Wish I Knew… Year’s Goals 📝

I’m the kind of person that sets “goals” this time of year. I guess that means I believe in the power of writing things down and manifesting them into existence, at least to some extent. And to some extent I have “proof” it works. 

From specific fitness challenges and vowing to make a certain amount of money, to abstaining from alcohol and reading an exact number of books, all manner of items have made their way onto paper and been stuck on my bedroom wall. In the coming days I’ll repeat the process again.

While the act itself hasn’t changed much over the past two decades, the things I aspire to have. For example, in the past I’ve set out for some very definitive things like:

Take 10,000 steps a day.
Watch a movie I wrote in a cinema.
Own a Picasso.

Here are a few other common goals people strive for:

Get Married.
Have Kids.
Run a Marathon.
Make $100,000.
Buy a House.
Lose Weight.

While these types of objectives have served a purpose, I now find them objectionable. It’s just I prefer to begin the year focussing on a different kind of ambition.

NOTE: if you want the nuclear family and a picket fence, that’s fine by me - go for it. If you have your heart set on the marathon, that’s amazing - make it happen.

My issue is not with these aspirations, but the fact they’re “telic” goals, meaning they’re outcome based and lead to a specific end point. Say you do check each of these boxes, then what?

What happens after your wedding day? Will you continue to grow and give more of yourself to your relationship? And, when you cross the finish line after a gruelling 42km - an incredible feat of human fitness - do you maintain a love for exercise, or have you burnt out two years down the track?

While these are all respectable endeavours, with the potential to provide a sense of accomplishment and short-term satisfaction, it might all come to a grinding halt. “I’ve done that thing. Time to move on”. Plus they leave little room for nuance.

If you meet the person of your dreams and fall deeply in love, but they don’t believe in marriage, is it a failure? Or say you become the fittest you’ve ever been, but suffer a stomach bug the night before your marathon and have to pull out, was it all a waste? Not in my book. That’s why I’ve moved to “atelic” goals.

It has been a subtle change that’s helped me reframe my objectives in favour of things that promote ongoing growth and continued self-improvement, as opposed to a single moment in the sun. I can still check my goals off at year’s end, but they won’t leave me wondering what to do next.

So rather than telic ambitions, here’s what the atelic versions might look like:

Get married. - Be a loving partner.
Have kids. - Be a positive role model.
Run a marathon. - Push my physical limits.
Make $100,000. - Find new income streams.
Buy a house. - Create a homely environment.
Lose weight. - Move my body more.

With that in mind, for me, it won’t be about reaching 10,000 steps this year, but instead taking one step towards a healthier me every day. I’m not setting the bar at making a single piece of art I can pay to see, rather continuing to create things I’m proud of. And I’m not hoping to holiday in a certain part of the world, but I am going to strive to be more present with loved ones, wherever I find myself.

I wish I knew the power of atelic goals sooner. But more than that, I wish you a happy and safe 2025. It feels like it might be the best year yet.

ZP / NpG

Want to reach out or tell me a story? I appreciate any and all feedback so email me at [email protected] 

See you next year :)