My thoughts are the same as Ankur’s. You have provided a systematic approach to arrive at our goals in life. Too many of us (myself being a prime example) have a somewhat hazy idea of what we really want.

Following the thought process you have suggested would help crystallize our thoughts into something more concrete.

And to Meg,

I suggest that she turns to the online community for her support and cheerleading group. It may be a little intimidating at first to start declaring her goals, but as time goes on, I’ll bet my farm that she’ll meet like minded and supportive people.

It was the scariest decision that I have ever made, but the best one of the my life. I had friends and family questioning my sanity and sometimes, I did too! A few months later, you could not pay me enough money to go back to the cubicle world with core behaviors and end of year evaluations! I would rather die than go back to corporate america… unless, to give them massages!

The way I look at it… I was not born to work for benefits and money… I was born for a reason and until I do what I was brought here for… I will never be satisfied. As for Craig’s comment that most people don’t think that deeply about the macro view of their lives… I think that is sad. Our society places too much responsibility on others to fulfill what is lacking in us.

This is a very nicely written article. I talk to dozens of people weekly regarding their financial bottom line and notice the majority of people I talk to lack focus. Rather than fixating on what investments can do to impact their bottom line, Amerians need to focus first on what it’s going to take to generate cash flow. That takes introspection.

I agree that one’s purpose and values can be small, but perhaps if that person takes the time to think about these things, he or she will find there is more to his or her identity.

Maybe I’m confusing purpose with goals, for me I have little goals about how I want to fulfill my day, week, etc. I don’t look at my life from a macro view into what my purpose is. I don’t know if many people think too deep into something like that.

I hate to say this, but I don’t think this is universally true. If anything, the ones closest to you may be the ones who are most likely to sabotage your progress. They may feel threatened by the changes you want to make in your life because it might require change on their parts as well. Some may even find your self-improvement quest deeply threatening because it reminds them of the paths they didn’t take.