The Hidden Joy of Having a Compelling Goal

I know many people who miss the days when they prepared for IITJEE or some major exam.

Why?

1. A singular, compelling goal like a big exam overrides most distractions and helps you focus, often creating a pleasurable flow-like state.

2. In exam prep, there is a clear path — and very little ambiguity. So as you make progress, there is a constant drip of dopamine and achievement. People often miss that high in their regular jobs.

3. As your prep makes progress, you start seeing glimpses of mastery, even if intermittently. It is very gratifying.

4. If you finally achieve the goal, the impact on your life is quite staggering.

Even Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who gave the concept of ‘flow,’ talked about some of these things as prerequisites for achieving flow.

So does that mean we just write more exams? No. 😊

But it does mean that having clear and overpowering goals can cut out the chaos and bring structure to our lives.

I am not promising nirvana. But when you have a compelling goal, its impact will be unmissable.

So don’t keep chasing random things. Find a compelling goal.

PS: Just to be clear, I am not claiming that everyone loves big exams — some people do, and some don’t.

– Rajan

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