Poll: Lowering your goal in life = Quitting?

[rottenbutter]

Yesterday, I was reading a human relations book for school, and I found something in there that I can't seem to get off my mind.

In it, it said that, it is OK to change your goal in life to something more realistic, if you goal is impossible.

Now, my first thought to this was: "WTF! My goal in life is my dream. There is no way in hell I'm just going to lower it."

But I want to find out, what my fellow escapists think.
Is it better to follow your dream, no matter what the odds, or lower them, so you don't set yourself up for failure.

Maybe it's because I grew up on TV shows that always told you to follow your dreams and never give up, maybe it's teenage rebellion, not liking being told what I can, or can't do, maybe I'm just stubborn, but I'm not giving up on my dreams (no matter what).

 

[Gxas]

Follow your dreams to the end. There should be no reason for you to give-up on them. You're only classified as a failure if you choose to quit. Even if you do not reach your goal, you still tried and will be known for doing so.

 

[Xvito]

You shouldn't ever give up on your dreams (Jesus Christ I sound like Yugi).

 

[TwilightFan182]

Some are unattainable, sadly, as I have recently found out. Don't give up until that fact is certain, though.

 

[Johnn Johnston]

It isn't quitting if that dream is impossible to reach - that falls under the category of realism. If you just can't be bothered, then that counts as quitting.

 

[internutt]

Not everyone can be an astronaut when they grow up. However it IS possible to write stories about them, develop technology they can use or make videogames about them.

No harm in altering your goals in life!

 

[Corven]

I just call it being realistic, I don't hold any fantasies of owning a giant mansion or having 25 cars, I'll most likely end up in a cruddy apartment with a rusty bike as transportation, with tons of bills always hanging over my head, if things end up better then that, great, but if they don't at least I won't get depressed because my dreams haven't been fulfilled.

 

[Zac_Dai]

Well when I was young kid I wanted to be a pilot either in the RAF or Commercial Airlines but sadly due to my colour blindness I would never be allowed too.

So yeh its ok to change your life goals to something more attainable.

 

[maxusy3k]

If you go for broke and it doesn't work out then yes maybe it is time to find something else to focus on. If you get halfway and just think "Wow this is a lot of work, bollocks to it" then yeah it is quitting.

My dream is to be a fully fledged writer. I haven't given up on it because I haven't actually tried, to be honest. If I decided one day that maybe, you know, just getting a decent job and earning a decent wage is fine and dandy then yeah, that would be quitting. If I sent my book to every single publisher and agent in the whole damn world and didn't get anywhere then yes maybe it would be time to start looking for something else.

 

[Beowulf DW]

It depends on the dream, I guess.

My dad wanted to be a mechanical engineer, but he found college to be to difficult, so he dropped out, took up an apprenticeship, and now he's a foreman at a sheet metal shop. He has his bad days, but for the most part he loves his job and is perfectly happy with it.

I entered Penn State with the dream of being an aerospace engineer. I soon realized that aerospace engineering wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Now I'm transferring into the Division of Undergraduate Studies, and from there I hope to enter into an English major.

There's definitely a difference between lowering your goals and finding the right goals. As long as you're happy, does it really matter anyway?

 

[Ronwue]

Ummm... unless it's impossible, the dream should remain the target. No superpowers for you.

 

[zirnitra]

meh. I don't think there's such a thing as lowering your goal. I think however it is possible to change your goal. and as long as you don't regret it then theirs no loss. if you do however you should do everything in your power to change back somehow.

 

[Break]

Does it matter? If you're happy with where you're going, and you don't regret wherever you end up, I don't see what the goal you had at the beginning has to do with anything.

Besides, it's not nearly as simple as "is this quitting or not". If a man worked his hardest for fifty years with the single goal of becoming the prime minister/president/appropriate analogue for any given country, you'd call it admirable. If a man worked his hardest for fifty years with the single goal of becoming captain of the universe, you'd call it "interesting", but you'd be nervous about stepping inside his padded cell.

 

[insectoid]

It isn't quitting if that dream is impossible to reach - that falls under the category of realism. If you just can't be bothered, then that counts as quitting.

I agree with that.

Don't change your goals because it's too hard, have a good reason.

 

[Creativename360]

Well, I try to live under the phrase "If you wouldn't wipe your ass halfway, Why do anything else halfway?" I'll admit that some of my goals are a bit ambitious, and chances are they are a bit unrealistic, but I at least try to complete them.

 

[EnzoHonda]

One thing I've realised is that a lot of my early, unrealistic goals where also supremely selfish. I came to the conclusion that wanting to drive race cars for a living was a real waste of my life. Fun, sure, but what's the point? So now I've adjusted my goals to something that is infinitely more achievable as well as actually useful to society. You might realize that when you change your goals to something more realistic, they also become better and more useful.

 

[captainwillies]

one day ill gain magical powers....you'll see, YOU'LL ALL SEE.