The Pros and Cons of Pursuing Personal Goals in Our Lives

The right to pursue whatever we want regardless of the consequences is theoretically a good notion; however, when enacted, it is bad for both individuals and society. The action to pursue desired goals regardless of consequences shows drive, initiative, and passion; however, this idea also reflects selfishness, lack of reasoning, and very poor decision making. Such negative aspects greatly outweigh the good in pursuing personal goals.

When pursuing a goal, the consequences should be weighed, not ignored. Consequences of one’s pursuance doesn’t only affect them, but holds significance on others. Whether as a parent, a child, an employer, even as an employee, your decisions and actions will affect others. If one is selfish to those effects, it could ultimately hurt them in the future. Instant gratification doesn’t always last, and has the potential of causing disastrous to one’s future. To illustrate, if as an employee someone finds a new job elsewhere and they quit without giving proper notice, they ignore the consequences on the employer and ultimately the business. However, down the road they may have been laid off. Because they destroyed the relationship with the previous employer due to their negligence, their actions have come back to hurt them in destroying a possible job opportunity. Fulfilling that instant gratification without considering others almost always leads to a negative outcome.

Lack of reasoning shows poor decision making, and not weighing all possible options is a very risky aspect of trying to reach a goal. Pursuing whatever you want regardless of the consequences usually portrays gut reactions or fulfilling instant gratification. If striving for a goal, whether it be graduating high school or landing a new job, how you go about reaching it completely decides the success. If one is to pursue something without taking into account the consequences, it could actually be retrogressive in achieving it. For example, if a student is worried about passing a test, they may resort to cheating in order to pass rather than studying. Cheating would lead to instant gratification in passing; however, it also portrays pursuance without taking into account the effect of the consequences. While taking the test, if the student it caught cheating, not only do they fail the test, they also fail the course, putting them farther from their original goal. Although it may fulfill that instant worry, that poor decision making proves unsuccessful in the end.

Pursuance is a very good quality. Pursuance without reasoning, however, is a bad quality and could very well lead to failure. Every decision someone makes has a domino effect and should not be made without consideration. No matter to what degree, being negligent to the consequences of a decision could ultimately inhibit a person from achieving their goal. Ignoring the effects on others to fulfill instant gratification could destroy relationships as well as future opportunities. Ignoring the personal effects reflect poor decision making, and sets one up for failure. Personal fulfillment is the greatest good in life; however, it is impossible to achieve when disregarding the consequence on oneself and others in pursuing it.