3 ms·
The downside to this is forming an addiction e.g. get in shape and look good --> eating disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, etc. It's so easy to fall into this
by sizzle 6y ago
The downside to this is forming an addiction e.g. get in shape and look good --> eating disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, etc.
It's so easy to fall into this trap of obsessing over achieving your one goal to the detriment of your health and sanity (developing OCD, etc.)
Can anyone relate? for me it was the gym which spilled over into unhealthy diets and unhealthy relationship to eating normal food that had carbs like it was going to kill me until I realized how obsessed I was becoming and quit the gym for outdoor activities.
- x86ARMsRace 6y agoI can definitely relate, except not for the gym type of goals, rather academic goals. I was studying STEM to be a researcher initially. I sunk pretty much every minute of my time into trying to achieve that. Despite this, I just could not get the marks needed to get where I wanted. That destroyed my mental health for a long time. I tied my self-worth into my education, and that only. I ended up developing something very similar to OCD that I still struggle with today. Ended up giving up on that pursuit, and went into the software world and became a developer. It was really hard throwing that previous dream out, sunk cost and all, but I have never been happier than I am now. I realized that my single focus and obsession about achieving that specific goal meant that the rest of my life had been essentially halted. That's not the case anymore. I think sometimes, at least for myself, we can get so caught up in the idealized end goal, that we forget that life happens between now and the end goal. If we don't take care of ourselves between those two end-points, we will either never reach that goal, or when we do, be unable to appreciate it.