I have a slightly different approach to goal setting than the average bear.

I'm not terribly interested in accomplishing a lot of specific tasks. I'm more interested in asking, "Who am I becoming?” and "Do I like this person?”

To me, these are the essential questions, the BIG ones, if you will, for these reasons:

(1) I'm not asking, "What do I want to be?” This is an occupational query, and while it's significant, it's not the end result we're really seeking, as I see it.

(2) I'm not focused on the past, woefully wondering "What have I become?” The game's not over; I'm a work in progress.

(3) "Who” is about overall identity, mission, purpose, and one's personality. It's an integrating question, not a fractionalizing one. Your "who?” is about the whole of you, and that's much greater than the sum of your parts or your accomplishments.

Try organizing your life around "who?” and not "what?” and see how you do, overall. If you're like me, you'll feel you're tapping into deeper sources of motivation, and wellsprings of personal satisfaction, instead of making yourself a success object, driven toward achievement and acquisition, but an empty cargo container, inside.

After all, when we ask the right question, the answer appears, almost magically, doesn't it?