Excerpt from a Vishen Lakhiani YouTube talk arguing that 'tradition' can be peer pressure from past generations and urging people to distinguish means goals (external expectations) from end goals (authentic, soul-led desires). Includes a personal anecdote about entering and leaving a Microsoft job after following a grandfather's expectations.
Chapters
Tradition is nothing more than peer pressure from dead people. So how much of your goals are coming from peer pressure? That's an example of peer pressure. I became a computer engineer because I remember my grandfather telling me I should be rich like Bill Gates. I ended up working for Microsoft. I quit after 11 weeks because I was so frustrated and I just wasn't happy with my job. I was actually following my grandfather's goal, not mine. Now means goals and end goal. This is a very important lesson to learn. So many of us chase a means to an end. We want to become an engineer. Why? So our parents are proud of us. So that we can have freedom. So that we can build something. But there are so many people like me who go into that only to find that the means mean nothing. Rather, you want to set end goals. End goals are a completely different levels of goals. End goals are the goals that really light you up. They are doing it for yourself, soul and no one else.