In life we are faced with challenges, projects and decisions.

Whether we are deciding on a job, a course or a trip, how can we know if we are setting a good goal? How do we know if we are choosing the right path?

Let's think about our inner motivations.

Let’s say I’m thinking about becoming a doctor. What really motivates me? Is it to be a doctor because of the wealth, prestige, or status? Or is it to be a doctor because I’m passionate about studying, understanding diseases, and serving patients? What is really motivating me? If I’m thinking only about the degree and status and not about the path to becoming a doctor, I need to be careful.

Let's imagine that I'm thinking about a trip I want to take. If I want to travel just to tell people about where I've been or to impress others, it's better to save the money and do something that really captivates me.

Let us think about who we are going to become. 

It is known that more important than the place where we arrive is who we become on this path.

Is it worth getting where I want to be if along the way I become a selfish, cynical or angry person? Is it worth despising and ignoring others just to get what I want?

What if, on the contrary, I don't get where I wanted to go but become a better and more generous person along the way? Wouldn't it have been worth it anyway?

Eddie Vedder sang in one of his magnificent verses: When I walk beside her, I am a better man… Will I be a better person when I’m with the person I’m with? And will this path make me a better person for others?

Let's think about the final moment.

Of course, getting to where we wanted to be is good and rewarding, but let's remember what tennis champion Martina Navratilova tells us: The moment of victory is too short to live above all else.

Victories and triumphs pass too quickly. Did I enjoy the game itself, the path itself?

Let us have no illusions, the moment of arrival is just a moment. What story will all the days, months and years tell until we get there?

How sad it is to see someone ambitiously climbing some hierarchy for years, only to get there and realize how low they are.

If we find ourselves thinking about the next choice or goal in life, whether it be small or big… let’s think about whether the path appeals to us, let’s think about what kind of person I will become, let’s think about what it will be like in the end.

Because for each new challenge, we are asked the question: If I never got where I wanted, would it have been worth going down this path?