Goals are Fata Morganas (mirages)
that we think into the future.?

They motivate us to become active in a directed way. Without an inner picture of what we want to achieve, we would never get moving, and the last bottle of beer would stay in the fridge!

The more abundant and colourful I have painted them in my imagination, the more confident I will achieve my goals. They have to be concrete and emotionally charged. This also applies to abstract goals like peace or happiness. They, too, must be made concrete, i.e. painted as vivid, colourful pictures that trigger desire in us.

There is a fundamental problem with goals that lie far in the future, with strategic objectives or life goals. We cannot know what the world will look like for which we have our goal in mind. We project our present idea of a future state of the world and are motivated by this projection. It is the basis of our decision today. However, the world will not develop according to our projections.

As a teenager, I had a crystal clear idea of what my life would be like in 40 years. Since I wanted to become a forestry officer, like my father, I saw my future life in my father’s image every day. The feelings I banished with this image were contentment and joy in work. Well, I was lucky and achieved my goal in life. In return, however, I have left my original image of becoming a forester far behind.

I want to clarify that we need strong images to tackle complex tasks. The goal we want to achieve must be promising and colourful before our eyes. Otherwise, we will not persevere.
And we must be prepared to constantly adapt this goal image to the world, which is continually changing as we progress towards the goal.

But the goal we reach in the end should fulfil the practical and emotional promises we saw when we started, even if the concrete shape of what we achieve differs significantly from our original goal picture.

Goals are like Fata Morganas that we imagine into the future, constantly changing shape as we approach them. However, unlike mirages, they are not mirage images. Instead, they are concrete fantasies of what we want to achieve, robust projections of goals that enable and energise our actions. In my Systemic Coaching training, which starts on 11 November, dealing with different value systems will play a role.