Poll: Lowering your goal in life = Quitting?

[tobyornottoby]

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).

That and you're young?
(not that I'm not)
Seeing the results, I guess there's a lot of youngsters around here
You know the refrigerator saying; "Life is what's happening to you while you're busing planning other things". Having a goal is great but don't let it tunnel-vision you, blind you for other stuff

 

[black lincon]

like the book said lower them if they are impossible. if your dreams are attainable but require hard work go for it. but if your dream is to be the president of the moon then you might want to lower your standards a bit. on the other hand you could always start out with low expectations and then be delightfully surprise at how easily you overcome them, that how i do it, and i love it that way.

 

[Ultrajoe]

Certainly, if your dream is overtly unreachable or unrealistic there is nothing 'Quitting' about shifting gear. The world is not poetic and just, there does not have to be a happy ending. Its very well to say 'try hard and never give up', but there is no reason for that to pay off in the end. Plenty of people try hard and never succeed. Lowering your goal out of necessity or because your dream was stupid is sometimes the sensible option.

Of course you should be able to 'give up' without guilt. Not everyone can win.

 

[Easykill]

I wish I had a dream... Motivation is the main thing I lack in life, if you actually have it, don't just throw it away; go for it.

 

[falcontwin]

I think too often people use their 'dream' as a crutch to not move on and actually be succesful in their lives. I personally know 2 people who have dreams that they cannot achieve in any shape or form, but they use these dreams as an excuse for not achieving anything. one person wants with all his heart to be an F1 racing driver. but he has no talent and does not even try to get a basic racing license. So modifying your dream to suit your reality is not giving up.

 

[Limos]

I don't actually have a dream. I have some short term goals on occasion. Pass that test, get a haricut, so on.

But really I live in a perpetual Now.

Planning ahead isn't really my strong suit and I can't remember anything that happened more than a month ago with any detail.

 

[axia777]

I say follow you dreams to the end unless it looks to be utterly hopeless. The only thing is that YOU have to be the one to decide if it is really hopeless. Sometimes making mistakes and getting back up again is the only way to get to our dreams. Sometimes other people will think you a madman for keeping after that so called impossible dream.

On the flip side plenty of people change priorities over the course of their life. Some people change college majors three or more times before settling on what really works for them. Trial and error is all just part of life and none of it is really a waste of your time. If you never screwed anything up you would never learn anything real.

I always like to think of the idea of getting up after being knocked down a dozen or more tomes in a row shows how really strong you really can be.

 

[Lazzi]

It all depends. some times your dream just dies (I no longer want to be a fire man). Some times your dream is way to far out (I can not be a power ranger, nor can I be a wizard). then there are the times when life happens and plans change, dream are wonderfull if they arnt hamperd by reality.

 

[gothic_dragon]

Well at the moment i don't have any dreams or goals so whatever i achieve i wont be disappointed. If i did have dreams or goals i don't see why lowing your expectations for something more achievable would be giving up. Anyways if you reach the lower goal then one can always go higher from there.

 

[falcontwin]

Here is a better quote to live by. Don't let your dreams wreck your life. Having a dream is great but letting a dream destroy your hap"think" will make you happypiness is stupid. you can have a perfectly happy life without ever acheiving the thing you think will make you happy.

Being happy in the real world is more fun than being happy in your dreams.

 

[mshcherbatskaya]

Sometimes you realize your dream is a really dumb dream that would make you miserable if you actually got it. Sometimes you realize that after you got it, and you're stuck with your big dumb dream even though you don't want it any more. That's happened to me twice in my working career. I tend to achieve my goals and then hate them. The stuff that I don't plan usually turns out awesome, so I don't set goals any more if I can help it.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Sometimes you realize your dream is a really dumb dream that would make you miserable if you actually got it. Sometimes you realize that after you got it, and you're stuck with your big dumb dream even though you don't want it any more. That's happened to me twice in my working career. I tend to achieve my goals and then hate them. The stuff that I don't plan usually turns out awesome, so I don't set goals any more if I can help it.

You know, You could set an semi-Un-attainable(Is this okay?>.>) one so you would always have something to work for.

 

[Syntax Error]

Wow, the classes I had in the past few weeks are actually relevant.

If you set a goal, it must be SMART. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result-oriented, Time-bound. If a goal is set with this in mind, there would be no need to change it halfway through. Although I'll admit that childhood dreams are different. Usually you're too young to know any better if your dream is possible or not.

 

[Jark212]

"Winners never quit, quiters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots."
Yah, take that...

 

[Introspective]

No, it's just being realistic or adapting to an event or decision that may have impacted your life and they way it is headed.

 

[jasoncyrus]

Dreams are exactly that, Dreams. If you can attain it then its not a dream is it? The point of a dream is to want something you can never ever have in your life time.

 

[trlkly]

Dreams are exactly that, Dreams. If you can attain it then its not a dream is it? The point of a dream is to want something you can never ever have in your life time.

That's just another way of saying tomorrow never comes. Of course, if you ever realize your dream, it is no longer a dream but reality.

Either that, or you are confusing dream with fantasy. A dream is something you actually want to achieve. A fantasy is something you wish you could achieve.

 

[742]

personally, my childhood dreams, not really that cool anymore. do what you want to do, and if you cant find a way you obviously arent looking hard enough, if the cost/benifit is not in your favor, well, then i suppose your only other option is to do something else possibly less cool but more attainable. i mean, i know im not going to be a master ninja/destroyer of worlds/sorceress unless i live a REALLY long time. and it might not nessicarily be FUN doing all that training. ninjas do a LOT of training.

 

[jasoncyrus]

Dreams are exactly that, Dreams. If you can attain it then its not a dream is it? The point of a dream is to want something you can never ever have in your life time.

That's just another way of saying tomorrow never comes. Of course, if you ever realize your dream, it is no longer a dream but reality.

Either that, or you are confusing dream with fantasy. A dream is something you actually want to achieve. A fantasy is something you wish you could achieve.

Seems I am mistaken then... oh well.