One can talk of an instrument\u2018s goal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The goal of the hammer is to get the nail into the wood. But this goal-talk is only metaphorically speaking. The instrument has a function. The human user has a goal and uses the instrument in function of the goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We can talk directly of \u2018goal\u2019 from the moment an intentional agent<\/a> is involved. For instance, a bacterium has the goal of thriving and surviving. Having a goal coincides with the birth of life, billions of years ago. With time, this kept evolutionarily evolving and eventually turned into conscious intentionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Earth, and perhaps in the whole universe, having a goal equals being alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A hammer is not alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does a computer program have a goal? Nope. We can talk about the goal of an app on a smartphone, but it\u2019s still metaphorically speaking. Only living beings have goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life is a wonderful thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, even if it\u2019s not a miracle. For a long time, it was thought that \u2018life\u2019 would always remain a complete mystery. \u2018\u00c9lan vital\u2019 \u2013 the name sometimes given to this mystery \u2013 was supposed to be forever unreachable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, a few years ago, life was concocted in a lab (Craig Venter Institute in San Diego) by putting the right products together in the right environment. Meanwhile, this new life has been shown to also normally and uniformly grow and divide<\/a>. Thus, the grand mystery of life has been solved in a primitive way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Does this new life have the goals of our bacterium mentioned above? Yes. So, the very first artificial goal on Earth was also created in that lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goals are crucial for life. No wonder goals are also crucial for well-being and health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without a profound goal, a human being has nothing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about it: Without a meaningful goal, why<\/em> would you have anything? OK, money on a bank account \u2015 but why? Without the why, honestly, it could as well not be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or: you yourself<\/em> could as well not be here. A depressive person can tell you this firsthand. If the why has gone, life turns into a meaningless void. I\u2019ve gone further into this in my book Depression Relief<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without deep purpose (having a profound goal), there is no life either in body or mind. Thus, a purposeless life also significantly heightens the chances of dementia<\/a>. That should be no surprise, yet modern Western medicine keeps searching for the healing molecule \u2015 not the level of purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In AURELIS coaching<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A central part of AURELIS coaching<\/a> is finding the true goal of the client\/user. For instance, is it only the diminishment of chronic pain<\/a> (as in \u2018painkiller\u2019), or does the true goal \u2013 discernible mainly after some thinking and feeling \u2013 lie deeper? Might it be an effective communication within oneself \u2013 if ready for it as a person \u2013 to the level where the pain message somehow originates? Might it be a Compassionate invitation toward oneself to change at one\u2019s own pace, reaching a state where the pain durably (!) diminishes because there is no deeper reason for it anymore?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The centrality of goal<\/em> is also why it is part of the G.I.M.O.<\/a> toward the end of any AURELIS coaching. It\u2019s much more than just part of the coaching session\u2019s summary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Living one\u2019s true goal<\/strong> is effectively central to diminishing suffering while heightening personal growth.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This way, it is also intrinsic to Compassion, basically<\/a>.<\/p>\n