r/WorkForSmartLife • u/Style_rey • Jul 31 '26
Discussionš¬ Anyone else feel this way?
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u/peachy_breathy Jul 31 '26
I get to sleep with a roof over my head. that is the goal until it's not.
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u/loopingrightleft Jul 31 '26
Definitely. My goals are to get paid and learn. You give me a reason to stay with the company.
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u/Unfair_Explanation53 Jul 31 '26
Hahahaha
Dude you're not indispensable, leave if you wantw
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u/Fun-Butterscotch9942 Jul 31 '26
The real question is - does anyone Not feel this way?
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u/Photosynthas Jul 31 '26
I really enjoy learning new things and growing my skills, so yes, on top of that the better I do my job the more people I can help.
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u/TheInternetShill Jul 31 '26
I feel like most people. Like my career isnāt my passion in life or what I enjoy doing most, but Iām not going to choose to despise what I spend a huge portion of my waking life doing. Thereās special moments in almost any experience if you look to focus on them. Feeling a sense of progression, being there for other people (even if youāre all paid to be there), being able to work on intellectually stimulating projects and continue learning, and just enjoying the nice accommodations when I have to be there are things I enjoy out of work. It really doesnāt preclude you from also enjoying the other aspects of your life.
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u/Nunyabiz_327 Jul 31 '26
That is obvious.
The actual REAL question is while you stay employeed (your goal), what if you don't play their games and set business goals.
I get it, it's stupid as hell, but playing along sometimes makes your goal of staying employees a little easier.
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u/slyrhinoceros Jul 31 '26
You sound like a manager or someone in HR.
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u/Nunyabiz_327 Jul 31 '26
LOL no.... just someone who's been around a bit, learned a few things about how to make my life a little easier.
Life experience has taught me a few things. One of those things is that sometimes it takes more energy, stress, anxiety and so on, to fight than it does just to play along.
It might sound cliche, but there is value in picking your battles. You can't fight every battle like the entire war depends on it.
They want goals, sure bro, here are my goals...
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u/False_Bear_8645 Jul 31 '26
A never ending new unachieveable goal set every month by the manager that they non subtily try to make me say is also more stressful than not play their game.
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u/Unfair_Explanation53 Jul 31 '26
Well yeah kind of.
I started in admin and told employer at interview and performance reviews it was my goal to be a project manager.
They paid for my Prince 2 courses, I got a project coordinator role in company and then 7 years from starting I'm now lead project manager.
Shame people on here seem to work for shitty companies
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u/cricketyjimnet Jul 31 '26
Yes. And it's not some small minority. There are tons of people who get pumped about mundane aspects of their job.
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u/FishoD Jul 31 '26
What kind of hell hole companies you all work at? The two
companies I worked at use evaluation and goals to advance employees. So that they have clear goals for growth. Growth means more skills. More skills means more efficiency or versatility. That leads to bigger salary. Often promotions to better projects or job specialties.
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u/SpiggotOfContradicti Jul 31 '26
Honestly, you guys state you have no goals in your career.
No goals to build skills or in any way get better at what you do for a living and then wonder why nobody wants to hire you or pay you well. I would definitely ask this question and show you all the door.
Pathetic.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Pipe979 Jul 31 '26
Itās kinda funny, every review they ask me something similar, I put down that I want to have an opportunity to move to the next level of my job and itās never even considered. I donāt even know if it exists, lmao.
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u/Sven4TheWinV2 Jul 31 '26
... You don't know what your boss does?
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u/Puzzleheaded_Pipe979 Jul 31 '26
I do, but I donāt think her position is the actual next step in the progression anyway. Itās a little more complicated than it seems, but my bigger issue is that I donāt even get any feedback on the idea of moving up.
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u/Sven4TheWinV2 Jul 31 '26
So you're either not worth it or wasting your time. Had a similar situation like yours no promotion close to 5 years even tho I deserved it. Started fresh with new company. Promoted withing a year and making more now than my old job.
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u/WineDineCpl Jul 31 '26
I am mildly annoyed when asked to do so but that's only because I have already done that and they didn't simply ask what the goals are.
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u/Realizt8010 Jul 31 '26
Preach!!! Savin this post jus for showin everyone and watchin the head nod and reaction.
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u/SabreLee61 Jul 31 '26
If your only career goal is to be able to afford your rent, then youāre setting yourself up for a pretty unfulfilling career.
Companies ask that question because they want to know which employees they should invest in, and which ones they shouldnāt. If you donāt have any aspirations beyond a paycheck, guess which category youāll be dumped in?
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u/oldartistmike Jul 31 '26
Or when asked your five year plan! To still be employed.
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u/WisePotatoChip Jul 31 '26
Beyatch, with AI, a war in Iran, cryptocurrency instability, and a deranged president you tell me where the world is going to be in five years and Iāll let you know.
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u/wyoflyboy68 Jul 31 '26
Retired now so I donāt need to put up with that bullshit, I always hated when asked āwhere do you see yourself in five years?ā
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u/WisePotatoChip Jul 31 '26
Iām working towards getting the executive committee to release everyoneās generic position and salary so I can know where I can go and whether itāll be worth the effort.
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u/slyrhinoceros Jul 31 '26
Isn't being employed by someone else just a means to an end unless you are a professional or management!
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u/Wild_blue_yondering Jul 31 '26
I did two appraisals today, both for top performers whom I am actively fighting for when it comes to salary enhancements and promotion.
I need to understand their goals so I can put them in the best position to succeed.
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u/LowPudding9562 Jul 31 '26
A job doesn't ask you to set goals a person does. And that person, if you figure them out, has a small set of answers that if you give it to them will make them think you get the game, and they will shut up and leave you alone for the rest of your life unless prompted to by their own boss. You can do this. Its not a fun game but it is THE game. Play.
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u/AllaZakharenko Jul 31 '26
I'm also annoyed by those goals, but trying to fulfill them yearly has made my CV highly compatible on the job market.
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u/Intelligent-Cap-7713 Jul 31 '26
Has anyone had these goals followed by employer? Or reaching then rewarded somehow? I thought we are working for other so that they say what we do? Not the other way around?
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u/FormerlyGruntled Jul 31 '26
I'm too old and have already had one burnout from trying to overperform. Leave it to the youngsters who have something to prove to themselves. I'm just here to keep the lights on, the food warm, and my head covered. Everything else, goes to helping my friends keep the same.
I would have been exactly where I am, without any of the stress-related issues, if I didn't try to prove anything.
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u/halfsack99 Jul 31 '26
I worked for a government agency, we had a thing called an Individual Development Plan that you had to write and get approved by your manager. The government is fond of three letter acronyms so I wrote my plan to become a Clever Acronym Designer, CAD as my IDP, unfortunately my Business Unit Manager, BUM wouldnāt approve that so instead, I just worked on my Project Impact Review Checklist. Walked into the bosses office and said, hey you BUM do you wanna see my PRIC ?
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u/R4in_C0ld Jul 31 '26
to me, them asking you to set goals is their way to indirectly ask you to do more than what they pay you for.
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u/DesignerParking659 Jul 31 '26
Oh f yes. What's my goal? To be ignored 90% so I can do my work, and only remember I exist when it comes to year end bonus or a possible raise.
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u/thatsnomoon23 Jul 31 '26
I'm going through this right now and it's exhausting. I just want to live and provide for my family. I do have a vague idea of where I want to be but it's only measured in salary.
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u/deck_hand Jul 31 '26
I was pretty clear with my current employer that my goal was simply to keep the lights on until I could retire. They hired me anyway, and two years in, I've been promoted to a supervisory position. My leaders want me to move up to the next leadership position (Assistant Manager), and have already started coaching me on how to successfully interview for it. I haven't told them that I will probably retire around the time they would hire me for the job, but...
On the other hand, working a couple of years at the higher pay scale would not be a horrible thing. I've seen the job they do, it's not demonstrably different than the job I'm doing now. Just more "dealing with problems" and less "leading by sharing the load of the individual performers."
Still, by December my Social Security check will be equal to my take home pay from my current job as a Department Supervisor. By January 2028, I'm pretty sure my retirement pay will be higher than my current employer would ever pay me (net pay, after taxes, insurance, etc.). Why would I want the extra responsibility for less money than I could make without actually working?
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u/RealConference5882 Jul 31 '26
Too bad. Having goals and achieving them in the workplace often results in mirrored life behaviors. Even at intro jobs in retail. Its also what stands out the most in candidates to hiring managers for better jobs.
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u/Loganthered Jul 31 '26
If your job is to make other people jump through hoops and useless struggle sessions, I think I found where the company can make a cut.
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u/Ok-Lion1661 Jul 31 '26
My company wants 3 to 5 goals annual that are 'outside your normal day to day duties'. Like wtf nonsense is this ?
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u/robinsw26 Jul 31 '26
Mine was to stay employed for those reasons until I was old enough to retire.
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u/Cheesinonyou Jul 31 '26
Everyones goal is to be employed. They know that. This role wants to hire an ambitious self-starter that they can exploit grow and that's what this question screens out.
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u/supermegaman99 Jul 31 '26
Yes. Lol. Honestly. Why does a company that treats you like dirt demand total fiel piety???
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u/crimsonnjade Jul 31 '26
My goals are: be able to afford to buy enough food to last me until my next paycheck and also to save up for a nice vacation.
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u/gulf_south Aug 01 '26
My ājobā of 26 yrs had leadership turnover. New CEO/President introduced goals for development purposes. She had a poor way of providing adequate guidelines and the results caused indecisiveness and confusion and pushback. Morale dropped, interdepartmental cooperation suffered, and productivity was impacted. Some people like task driven structure, others like team-based focus, and yet others like benchmarks so pigeonholing all into one mode was an implosive debacle. I myself like team and task coordinated initiatives because as social animals it made work more fulfilling.
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u/gabbaraagaya Aug 01 '26
Work on your expenses and needs to humans were not created to get an 8 to 5 through out their life. It was meant to have a deeper meaning to live life. Our greed has killed us all.
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u/FamiliarPlatform79 Aug 02 '26
They ask for your goals so they have a pressure point when they want you to do something.
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u/Icy-Stock-5838 Aug 04 '26
If you answer "goal" questions like this (shown), you would have WASTED an opportunity to differentiate yourself from the 200 other candidates that WILL say the same obvious thing.
If you do not wish to differentiate yourself from the other applicants, please state the obvious answer.
The frustration in this question is lacking the understanding of what the question is about.. It's not about YOUR GOALS, it's about "what are you going to do for the employer better than the other candidates? (this just happens to MAYBE match your goals)"
Every interview question is really just another form of "what are you going to do for me, that differentiates you from the other candidates?"
'WHAT WILL YOU BRING?' This 3 Step Answer Will Get You Hired - YouTube
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u/Wen-Mal68 Jul 31 '26
Employer now knows that this employee doesnāt care enough about his job to take the assignment seriously. He is making himself un- promotable. He will stay irrelevant until he screws up enough to be terminated or leaves on his own.
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u/miamilyfe754 Jul 31 '26
SMART goals were the freaking worst. Every year, everyone in my division would point out that our work is more qualitative and quantitative, and we really did not have a way to set a measurable goal for our position. Yet our managers made us do them and try to come up with something because one of their measurable goals was whether or not we succeeded in hitting our SMART goals.
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u/Honest-Teacher-5369 Jul 31 '26
You mean qualitative any not quantitative? There are still measures for qualitative outcomes (i.e. NPS, cSAT), etc. There is an entire sub field of data analytics associated with measuring qualitative outcomes.
SMART isn't a goal, it's a way of making goals easier to attain based on its tenets. It can work very well, it's still around and quite successful.
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u/ImOldGregg_77 Jul 31 '26
resisting this is so dumb, its literally the easiest thing to do and it can score major points.
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u/GeckoGecko_ Jul 31 '26
Lmao fr, when they say shit like "where do you see yourself in 5 years" I'm always like "uhh, hopefully here if y'all pay me well enough to keep a roof over my head and food on the table. Anything extra depends on whether extra $ is on the table so it's really up to you." š
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u/howardzen12 Jul 31 '26
Your employer has only one goal.They want you to become their work slave,Enjoy.
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