Not the OP, but I tend to react this way, too. I get a mental picture of a 12 year old planning out their stepping-stone Senate campaign in exactly 23 years...

Not the OP, but I tend to react this way, too. I get a mental picture of a 12 year old planning out their stepping-stone Senate campaign in exactly 23 years... But (unless monomania happens to work for you) that's not it at all. It is just the idea that having some sort of goal helps provide some mental priors you bring to every-day decision making. As an example, I have no issues to speak of with my body and eat pretty healthily by default. So I don't pay attention to what I eat, but I do try to not spend a ton of money on it, because I do have financial goals. Goals don't need to be some complicated 5 Year Plan or whatever. For me, they just end up being something in the back of my mind, a North Star for small-scale decisions.