Living Without a Goal

by James Ogilvy

Goals are good but some times they can hold us back from true happiness in the moment

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Spirituality

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Rebecca I · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains many of the ways we think about life, work, love, and goals. It went through ways that we approach "what life is about" and I recognized myself in various of the stages of deciding what that is for me and how to do it. Often there are Big Goals or one overwhelming Goal. At any rate, the author introduces much philosophy and explains what we have thought in the past about our purpose and how we may do well to not have so much of a purpose. More about being vs. doing knowing vs. understanding, looking at form vs. function, and maybe just letting it be a bit more enjoying instead of having a duty to be productive. No answers given. Something to think about and maybe read this book more than once.

[Todd Jenkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

A few pages into this book, it becomes clear that Ogilvy had one goal: to sell books to schmucks who can't formulate positive, workable goals for their lives.

A good friend had tried to read this book, and he passed it on to me to find out whether I could find anything of genuine interest in it. I failed in that goal. Perhaps I shouldn't have set such a goal to begin with, but instead have simply set back and enjoyed Ogilvy's prose. I think I would have failed at that goal, too. My next goal is to pass the book on to someone else to see if it benefits his life any more than it did mine. I expect that goal to be missed as well. But then, maybe that's Ogilvy's point...

[Laura Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would probably call this "self-help" but I don't have a shelf for that because it's not generally my thing. I like the title and the thesis "I have come to believe that a life enslaved to a single Goal, no matter how noble, becomes a mechanism rather than an organism, a business plan rather than a biography, a tool rather than a gift."

So that's what I liked.

It has the tone of those superficial business pep talk books but is championing taking a less goal oriented approach to life. That sums it up.

[Ratan Abraham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book in the year 2025 Common Era feels odd. Many passages seem to take the “End of History” idea seriously, and assume that prosperity for all under liberal democracy is right around the corner. Chapters 1-3 seem particularly vulnerable in this regard. The Lila and Spike caricatures and descriptions of the author’s own life seem like a glimpse into a world that doesn’t exist anymore. Many people are struggling to reach their basic needs, and rising from poverty may indeed be a goal that consumes a huge chunk of someone’s life. This is a situation that the book does not address at all.

However, accepting that this is all intended for the salaried professional, this book seems a lot stronger from chapter 4 onwards. The Goal of self-actualization, and the limits of that Goal, still seem prevalent in the world today. The failures of strict goals, the analogies involving lace and flowers and language, all make for interesting reading.

The main criticism I have of the later chapters is that they describe a lot of what not to do, and very little of what to do. More space is devoted to deconstructing what the author disagrees with, than with positing what the author finds good.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like to think that I know something about living without a goal, after all I have been doing it long enough. This book naturally attracted my interest, but barely sustained it throughout the read. The author does offer some very thought provoking insights, but overall it was just too dense to be enjoyable, too much like a textbook. Maybe some more examples or some humor would have made it an easier read. I'm not suggesting it should have been dumbed down for the masses, but more accessibility would have been nice.

[Pammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a "how to" book but rather a philosophical discussion about the differences between living an artful life versus a goal-driven one. Interesting.

[Ken Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended
A very interesting book. I had this book on my shelf pushing 30 years now and I finally got down to reading it. Will let that just sit there w/o referencing the title.

I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this - and I loved it. In particular, chapters 3-7 and chapter 9 stand out as particularly good. Though the book is not obviously dated in some ways it isn't in any important ways so it remains valuable and interesting.

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book in a book on good books. It was mildly interesting.

[Cassandra Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad read,but honestly I had to use the dictionary a lot!

[Katharine Holden · Rating 1 out of 5]

Found nothing of interest in this rambling, disjointed book.

[Cathy Houston · Rating 2 out of 5]

lots and lots of words very little meaning