Don’t let rampant consumerism shape your goals

​I have a few goals (Regular Goals) in each of the key areas of my life. But I have one Ultimate Goal – to be happy. I used to fool myself into thinking that all the regular goals came first. That I had to achieve them in order to achieve happiness. Of course, I was very ambitions when setting goals so many of the goals I set were ridiculous and nigh on impossible for me to achieve at that stage of my life. So, I would be unhappy at not achieving my regular goals and because of that I would be unhappy at the thought that I couldn’t achieve my ultimate goal of happiness.

What I was really doing was denying myself my right to be happy because I was convincing myself that my happiness lay in achievements and possessions which lay outside of me. I believed that I had to acquire and achieve before I was worthy of happiness. When you look objectively, you can see that this type of attitude is total B.S. But most people have this attitude even if they don’t realise it. They are constantly chasing something without ever taking the time to enjoy what they already have. They fail to see that they have everything they need to be happy because they are constantly chasing what lies outside of them.

It is my firm belief that a great deal of our unhappiness comes from consumerism and how it has trained us to beleive that we need to spend and acquire so that we can be happy. We have changed from ‘human beings’ to ‘human havers’ whereby we no longer determine the worth of a person by who they are. We now determine their worth by what they possess. This culture leads to the endless pursuit of things that we don’t really need. In fact, I invite you to take a few moments to ponder the following question:

​I grew up in, and currently live in, a small rural town called Clara. The town is located in Co. Offaly in the heart of the Irish Midlands. At the back of our housing estate was an old disused railway line which had previously linked Clara with the town of Mullingar. It was on this railway line that my friends and I spent many happy times throughout our childhood.

We would break off branches from trees to make our guns and bow and arrows as we played cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers and an assortment of ​children’s games. When we were not on the railway bank, we were playing football; either on the road in the estate or, in a local field which was imaginatively titled, ‘The Green Field’.

We only had one goal back then; to be happy. And I am glad to say that we were usually successful in the pursuit of our goal. Very few of our activities revolved around money but they were great days. It is not that we were poor. It’s just that consumerism hadn’t hit rural Ireland yet.

​Then in the mid 90’s, as I was in my teens, Ireland suddenly became one of the richest countries in the World. The culture seemed to change from one of spending time together to one of spending money trying to outdo each other. We all got caught up in it to some extent.

Jobs were reasonably plentiful so if you didn’t like your employer, you didn’t have to make an effort to get along with him. You could tell him to stick his job and you would have a new job within a day or two. Wages were so high that you could buy whatever you needed and plenty that you didn’t need. And if you didn’t have the money, it didn’t matter because banks were handing out credit cards and loans like they were sweets.

At first, it may seem fantastic to have so much money and spending power but there were some horrible trends which started during The Celtic Tiger years in Ireland, e.g.

​We all thought that we were making progress but the truth is that we were working ourselves to a standstill just to stand still. It became a real rat race and we sacrificed everything that was great about life in this country in a desperate attempt to get rich. It all reminds me of a great Robert Holden quote:

​There were many more things that went wrong during The Celtic Tiger years but one thing which certainly did not increase was the general happiness of the people. In fact, I have never seen any real evidence that people were happier during those years. People all over the world know about the problems that Ireland has experienced since the economic crash of 2008. But I would argue that the problems did not begin with the crash; they began when rampant consumerism arrived in the country. When people stopped being ‘human beings’ and started being ‘human havers’.

​You must take the time to create proper, effective goals whcih are aligned with the person you want to be and the things you want to do with your life.If you don't do this, you end up with goals which are set for you by clever marketing (consumerism) and the wants and needs of others. These goals are not really your goals and they will never make you happy. 

There is nothing wrong with wanting a nice income and some possessions ​but again, these must be aligned with the person you want to be and the life you want to live. When you manage that, you will want less and you will derive more enjoyment from the possessions and money you do acquire. If you don't manage it, you will end up like people in 'Celtic Tiger' Ireland; constantly chasing goals/achievements/possession they don't need and which; when they are achieved/acquired, bring litte or no lasting satisfaction. In fact, as soon as these types of goals are achieved, the person immediately wants something else; somethng more. That is neither a recipe for success nor happiness.

You willl find supporting information in the following articles:

​There are several other quick points I would like to make:

​The following are some strategies which will help you to derive more happiness form your goals and the entire goal setting process:

​If you are struggling to set effective goals, the Ultimate Guide to Goal Setting will help.

​I am not going to tell you this approach is perfect or that it will guarantee you a life time of happiness, but I am certain that is a far healthier and happier way to live your life than living a life fuelled by rampant consumerism.