I am sure from sometime during school onwards we have all set ourselves goals to achieve. I also recall from my years fund raising how the first thing we used to write was the ‘aims and objectives’ of the project, goals not there for the individual, but for the group. And in a way individual goals are also there for society not for the individual. I know, no one wants someone whose objective may be to rule as a dictator though to be fair we do get enough of those.
Personal achievements are heavily defined by our technology and our customs so in the UK people want to own their own home whilst in France this is not the main objective of many people as renting is not seen as a defeat but a respected way to live. You can usually tell the objectives that are not particularly our own as when we achieve them, we feel we are equal in our strata of society. We can have the party and invite everyone who invited us to their retirement, or their new job, or their posting abroad. We can put our car in the driveway with the latest number plate.
Its the things we do we don’t show off that really are ours. Good or bad, they are the things we take more pride in, which make us feel most at home. Because eventually adults realise it isn’t much fun doing what everyone else expects.