The industrial age materialized a great promise. It promised domination over nature, material abundance, unlimited happiness and unimpeded freedom. New forms of energy — steam, electric, nuclear — were substituted for human, manual energy. As the computer pushes aside the need for the human mind, we could see our way to unlimited production and unlimited consumption. (Fromm)
Sipping Youth berry/ Orange Blossom tea, I wonder…is that reality? Expecting infinite resources from a finite planet seems a little obtuse.
The industrial age has indeed failed to fulfill its Great Promise, and ever growing numbers of people are becoming aware that:
*unrestricted satisfaction of all desires is not conducive to well-being, nor is it the way to happiness or even maximum pleasure.
*the dream of being independent masters of our lives ended when we began awakening to the fact that we have all become cogs in the bureaucratic machine, with our thoughts, feelings and tastes manipulated by government and industry and mass communications that they control.
*economic progress has remained restricted to the rich nations and the gap between rich and poor nations has ever widened
*technical progress itself has created ecological dangers…which may put an end to all civilization and possibly to all life. (Fromm)
These sentiments are echoed in many tomes. Michael Beckwith, in Spiritual Liberation, calls it the “tyranny of trends” that hijack our standard of success and “convince individuals what their life’s purpose should be.” Michael Ray from The Highest Goal believes “the most powerful obstacles to living in resonance with the highest goal come from the media, our schools, our parents and friends — our society. All of them tell us to chase a successful life that will be admired by others.”
Although many “enlightened” tell us to follow our bliss, or march to our own beat, the “tyranny of trends” is very compelling. We want to find our own path but the siren’s call is too strong. We need a better way to change our route.
For me, and maybe for you too,, that way was to adopt a new language for goal setting and dream building. The popular practice of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals keeps us focused on attainment. We express our desire in terms of getting some timely measurable objective. We set income goals. We set weight loss goals. We set a deadline. We measure our progress. We attain our goal. We pump our fist in the air and experience the moment of elation before we realize that we have to do it all over again.
Or we don’t reach that brass ring and we sit down. What is all that striving for? Science has told us that the happiness we feel when we achieve some goal is a short-lived peak experience. We quickly revert to our happiness set point.
What if the goal was not a set point, but a destination. Like arriving somewhere, like Disneyland, and we have the opportunity to explore and enjoy who we have become because you made it. We can measure success because we now have choice. For example, instead of having a goal to be debt-free consider embodying the life of someone for whom money doesn’t dictate their choices. For me, someone who doesn’t have to think about money when making choices is someone who makes smart money decisions, pays their bill on time and has money to exchange for great experiences. When I stand in that place, I am likely debt-free and I am enjoying what I am doing and who I am being, the destination.
What is your destination? Instead of labelling our goals as reaching a peak, label it as a place to go where we can now enjoy the view rather than always looking to the next mountain.