# [[Goal orientation and living in the moment - not a contradiction|Goal orientation and living in the moment: not a contradiction]] There's a seeming contradiction between being goal oriented and living in the moment. In order to fully live in the moment, you shouldn't think about your goals, but only think about the current moment. But we still need to move forward right? How can we accomplish our goals if we only live in the current moment? Let's take the example of doing the laundry. When you do the laundry, your goal is to finish it. This is a noble goal, as it's nice to have your laundry done. There's no problem in having this goal by itself. The problem is whether it's the object of your attention or not. If your attention is always on the destination—being done with the laundry—then it's hard to be happy in this exact moment. You get your satisfaction from being done, from achieving your goal. When in fact, you can be happy just doing the laundry, not worrying about if and when you're gonna finish it. If I were purely goal oriented, I might say: But then why would we even set goals at all? If you can always be happy in the moment, why would we still need goals? Of course I can only be happy if I achieve my goals, otherwise my goals don't have any purpose. Or if I were a proponent of only living for the moment, I might say: I cannot set goals, because if I do, I cannot be satisfied with what I already have. In order to live in the moment, you need to fully accept your current situation, which means that you have no need to change, no need to accomplish any goals. This is the seeming contradiction. It's not really a contradiction, however. You can only be happy in the moment if you *know* that you are doing a [[Right Action|right action]]. If your subconsciousness is constantly telling you that you're not doing the right thing, it's hard to be fully content and happy in this moment. If you're being lazy on the sofa, knowing you have important work to do and you're capable of doing so, it's hard to be happy about being lazy. We still need goals, but only for making choices, not as the continuous object of our attention. When you need to make a decision about what you're going to do next, you need to evaluate your goals. Then you can choose the right action that goes towards achieving those goals. If the goal is "making sure you have clean clothes to wear", then "doing the laundry" is your right action. When you decide to do the laundry in this way, the reason you can be happy while doing the laundry, is because your chose to do so, and you know it's a right action. Once you've made the right decision, you can temporarily forget about your goals. Once you've started moving your hands, you can be happy about just the fact of moving your hands, knowing it's a right action. **Conclusion** All you have is now. You don't need to arrive at your destination. Even if you were to suddenly die while doing the laundry, and never achieve your goal, it's still ok. Because you are doing your right action, and that is enough to be happy about. But you still need your goals, in order to determine your right action. So that knowing that your action is right, you can choose to work for now, work just for the work, enjoy the work, and fully enjoy the current moment. --- Date:: [[2023-07-25]] Sources:: Continuation:: Branches:: Choosing goals and right action based on right view and mindfulness. See also:: Further reading::