Oh, Leo, you’ve done it again.  Over and over again I am inspired by Leo Babauta at Zen Habits.  He recently posted (“Why We Overplan“) about why NOT setting goals, when going on vacation or in everyday life, will help us act fluidly and be happier and less stressed, while still achieving a great deal.

“We are not walking a path, but surfing a sea.  Most people look at goal setting as picking a destination, then figuring out a path to get there.  That assumes you’re walking on land that will change very little, and that while you will have unforeseen obstacles, you’ll be on stable ground and the destination won’t move.  That’s not at all true — life is more like the sea, ever changing with no fixed paths or destinations, with swells and currents and waves that change everything at every moment.  The ultimate skill, then, isn’t setting a destination (goal) or a path (plan), but surfing.  In surfing, you take whatever waves come, learn to judge the waves as they come, learn to ride the wave as it changes, not as you planned.  It’s going with the flow (literally), and changing what you do depending on how the flow changes.”

Be sure to check out the whole article and his other posts.  I can apply this to many areas of my own life:

– Parenting for sure: taking each stage (or day for that matter) as it comes and not comparing my child to anyone else’s child or any ideal I have in my own mind.

– My to-do list: I am starting to see it as an evolving and ever-changing constant.  I am always going to have many items on the list.  It’s just a matter of prioritizing the list every day, sometimes multiple times a day, and getting done what I can.

– Marriage: There don’t seem to be these set milestones you’re supposed to reach along a path.  It’s more of a flow as each individual changes and grows… so must the other in a way.  It’s a daily shifting.

What aspect of your life can you apply this to? (I know, I know… I just ended a sentence with a preposition.  Oh well.)  Share in the comments!