Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 24 years ago by
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- Why do most people fail to set goals after the age of 25?
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Name : David, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 31, City : Cleveland, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : Computer Consultant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,In my experience, most people do not set goals to begin with, regardless of their age.User Detail :
Name : TR24795, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Mormon, Age : 18, City : San Jose, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma,I think there are several factors at work. One, there is a traditional message that society sends to us that by a certain age we should know what our goals are and that the rest of our lives is about obtaining this goal. This notion is fortunately changing and you can see this just by the sheer number of people who return to school, chnage careers, drop out of the rat race and try to simplify their lives, decide to have children later in life, etc. Goals can be defined in many different ways(personal, business, family) so you may be looking at one aspect. Second, unless people have the opportunities and the encouragement to seek a better way of life, they operate solely on a reactive basis. I remember a discussion I had wiith a friend of mine when we both turned 40. We both came from working class families and were the first in our families ot go to college. My friend asked me if I thought our fathers were happy when they were forty? My response was that I don't think it even entered their minds to even ask the question. They grew up in Depression, World War II, and very little options in their lives except work (in the town), get married, and raise a family. They had family obligations and thoughts of another way of life never entered the equation. It was only later in life that I learner my father wanted to be an artist, but that didn't put food on the table. He had goals but it was never encouraged by family, school, or the social climate of wheree he grew up. Goals can be snuffed out if people are not encouraged to dream.User Detail :
Name : Dennis, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 41, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : School Administrator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Who said they do? I can think of a thousand examples of people who rethink their goals at a later age, usually as a result of a large transition; marriage, children, job change, mid-life crisis, disease, etc., a lot of things can make a person reevaluate their life and set a new path at any time.User Detail :
Name : Lisa, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 24, City : los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,In the past, many working people stayed with a single company until retirement. Many women were encouraged to view homemaking as their only field of endeavor. So, by 25, when a majority of people were working and married, their lives were set on a specific course. Things are very different today. Most people will have several careers in a lifetime. More women are working outside the home and more professional homemakers are encouraged to foster other interests outside the home, by volunteering or developing hobbies. Today, more people are setting new goals after 25. I'm 31, and I'm working toward my MBA. In the next two years, I expect to have a job in marketing communications. I've also set goals for my retirement. I don't plan to stagnate. I don't think I could stop growing, and still consider myself to be alive.User Detail :
Name : Stacee27904, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,I'm not sure of the motivation for your question, but I see that people DO continue to set goals for themselves after 25. I think the issue is more one of magnitude - once you're older and have already accomplished a major goal or two, most people will only feel the need to simply fine tune their goals ... get the next promotion, buy the new house, open the new business, have the next kid, move to the islands after retirement, etc. Of course, for those who are in any way disenfranchised and have lost motivation or hope of achieivng more, the nature of their experience and perceptions may well enough answer your question from their perspective. I also think that major consideration has to be given to the great amount of time and energy consumed by earning one's desired level of living, supporting a family emotionally, financially, spiritually, rearing children who will become healthy contributing members to our society ...Given that a person of 25-plus would likely be working toward such ends, who is anyone to say these are not perhaps the loftiest of goals?
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Name : Monique, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 28, City : Bloomington, State : IN Country : United States, Occupation : Graduate Student, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,
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