Dev Carey on the Perils of Goal-Setting

To be an effective self-directed learner, you have to be really good at setting goals...right? Maybe. Maybe not. In episode 21 of the Off-Trail Learning podcast, Dev Carey (devcarey.com) talks with Blake about the dangers and unexpected benefits of goal-setting. In Dev's own words: "Most of us don't know what we really want, or aren't willing to admit it to ourselves or others, and when we're asked about our goals, often we say things that sound good but that then can trap us into feeling like we need to follow through and compete our goals in order to be valued and worthy and loved in our eyes and others. We then can live with a sense of oppression and 'should', even if it was 'our goal' to begin with (i.e. most of us quickly revert into acting like it was somebody else's goal for us). Goal setting can help us to see and move through this pattern if we have the relationships and self-awareness and communication skills to keep talking about it and being honest with ourselves. If we don't, goal setting can just heighten our incentive to avoid all these things."