I wonder if you have ever heard this management parable:
A passerby once walked past a construction site and asked the stonemasons what they were doing. Three stonemasons gave three different answers. The first said, "I am doing what I need to do to feed my family." The second said, "I am doing great stonemason work." The third said, "I am building the world's greatest cathedral." Although these three stonemasons were doing the same job, their perspectives on life were worlds apart.
Everyone has their own life goals. Some pursue power, with the lifelong ambition to "encompass the four corners and swallow the eight wilds"; some seek profit, aiming to "provide for their wives and children and fill their chests with gold and silver"; some chase fame, even if "ten thousand bones wither for one general's success"; some seek wealth, even at the risk of "man perishing for wealth and bird dying for food"; and others seek love, willing to go to the ends of the earth to find a soulmate.
Of course, there are also the heroic songs of "loyalty bones buried everywhere, why bother returning in horsehide" and the heroic deeds of "acting on behalf of heaven and rising up"; there is also the noble spirit of "who among men does not die, leaving a loyal heart to shine through history"; and the magnanimous vision of "the world belongs to the public, the party is for the public, and the heart is for the public."
Without a goal, you will feel empty and bored. To seek success and happiness, life cannot be without a goal. Goals are to success what air is to life; a person without goals cannot succeed.
If a ship loses its direction in the ocean, it will simply circle until its fuel is exhausted, still failing to reach the shore. In fact, the fuel it consumed would have been enough to carry it back and forth between the coasts multiple times. A person without clear goals and a concrete plan to achieve them, no matter how hard they work, is like a ship without a rudder.
You must first determine what you want to do before you can achieve your goals. Likewise, you should first clarify who you want to become to transform yourself into a person of value. Goals give you grand ambitions; they grant you the courage to try again when you fail; they drive you forward, prevent you from regressing, and unify the "ideal self" with the "real self."
In 1953, Harvard University surveyed graduating students, asking whether they had clear goals and written plans for the future. Less than 3% of students answered affirmatively. Twenty years later, researchers revisited those graduates and found that the 3% who had clear goals and plans outperformed everyone else in career achievement, happiness, and well-being. Remarkably, the total wealth of this 3% was actually greater than the combined wealth of the other 97% of students. This is the power of setting goals.
When a person moves steadily toward their goal, the whole world makes way for them. In modern society, it is often said that the purpose of life is to find and realize self-value. But what is self-value, and how is it manifested? Some say self-value is reflected in a sense of achievement—the happiness felt when one's own needs are met. Simply put, it is the feeling of being well and happy. So, we must ask ourselves, when do we feel this sense of achievement?
Undoubtedly, the most rewarding and happy moments occur when our work is recognized. No one admits to being inferior to others; everyone here is an ambitious person who wishes to surpass others and themselves to become someone of substance.
We feel no happiness when we fall behind. So, what should our goal of self-realization be? I believe we should stay grounded and set practical life goals. As a salesperson, you can strive to expand business and become the top performer in sales and cash flow. As a warehouse keeper, you can become the most efficient with the fewest errors. As a clerk, you can be the most excellent in service attitude. Every position has its necessity, and our task is to create those "glittering moments" of excellence within the repetition of daily life. These moments are the true manifestation of our life's value.
