Why Putting All Your Hope in a Single Goal Can Hurt You—and What to Aim for Instead
Ask Better Questions, Have Better Conversations
Four simple techniques to build trust, spark stories, and connect—on your podcast and in everyday life.
There’s something really cool about chasing one big goal. It’s the stuff of movie montages, best-selling business books, or motivational Instagram posts.
We’re told to “keep our eye on the prize,” to “never give up,” and to “begin with the end in mind.” But what happens when that one goal becomes your only goal? What happens when the prize is unattainable or even worse, when you bag it and it doesn’t give you what you thought it would?
Writer, director and comedian Julio Torres — known for his work on Saturday Night Live, Los Espookys, and Fantasmas — put this into words magnificently during a recent Hollywood Reporter’s Comedy Actor Roundtable. Sitting with the likes of Adam Brody, Ted Danson, John Mulaney, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel, Julio dropped a truth bomb that should resonate with anyone chasing that one. Big. Goal.
He brought up the story of a college student who once asked how to land a writing job at SNL, describing it as his “dream.”
Julio responded, “Maybe your hope and dream should be to have a life where you feel fulfilled and feel funny and are around funny people, because that’s one job. That’s one job. And if your hope is one trophy, one job that someone else has to give to you, that’s brutal.”
That last part lands like an uppercut from Mike Tyson: someone else has to give it to you.
When our dreams hinge entirely on outside validation — a job, a sale, a business transaction — you’re giving someone else the control to your happiness.
This way of thinking isn’t just dangerous; it can be damaging.
It can suck the joy from the process. And life. Our friends, our families, our partners — everyone starts to feel the weight of your one goal.
Entrepreneurs and creatives are the most vulnerable to this trap.
You start a company or launch a podcast with a vision in mind — maybe it’s a TED Talk or a New York Times bestseller. That vision is important. It can drive you during the tough times. But if it’s the only thing you’re targeting, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
The cure is what Julio says: aim for a life, not a job. Pursue goals, plural.
Shifting from “one goal” to “a set of goals” doesn’t mean you’re scatterbrained. It means you’re flexible. You’re designing a life that can bob and weave. You’re saying, “I know what I want, but I also know who I want to be if it doesn’t work out.”
Now don’t take this as permission to lower your standards. It’s all about expanding your outlook.
When you define success broadly, you make more roads to illumination.
You start to enjoy the ride, the growth, and the relationships you make along the way. You’re no longer just chasing a job title or a deal, you’re building a life of never-ending possibilities.
Let’s stop hyping the idea of “one goal.”
It sounds sexy, but it’s usually heartbreaking. Instead, aim for a basketful of meaningful goals.
Some might be big and loud, others small and quiet.
With hard work and a little bit of luck, we might achieve some of them.
If there’s one takeaway from all this, we’ll never be just one thing, so don’t live like you are.
Create a life where success isn’t confined to one door prize. Build a life where you can be happy, creative, kind and fulfilled.
’Cause that’s not just one good job. That’s what I call one good life.
