As 2025 wanes, I’m revisiting my values and objectives. What do I truly care about now? What’s my work in service to? How can I focus my time and attention so I can get closer to where I actually want to be?
The Highest Goal, a book by Stanford professor Michael Ray, has helped me work through such questions several times in my life. In episode 26 of the Traction Heroes podcast, I read Harry a passage that gives a taste of the book:
Society’s fundamental assumptions too often lead to negative outcomes. We see the evidence in the growing gap between the haves and have-nots; increasing violence; endemic poverty and starvation; environmental degradation; the breakdown of values, integrity, communication, and community; a sense of unhappiness and fear; and poor health among people in even the richest nations.
Many of us feel an urgent need to change the status quo and contribute to a new positive direction. The world needs us all to contribute our best. But how can any individual affect what seems to be a massive concatenation of forces and, at the same time, face the challenges of his or her life?
This book answers that question. In this time of global transformation, we must act creatively and courageously from our deepest knowing and compassion. Only if we are living in service of the highest goal, in whatever way we experience it, can we meet the challenges of our times and fashion lives that work. And only if we discover ways of translating this highest goal into a new way of living, can it be practical and expansive for all.
Identifying your highest goal isn’t about magical thinking. There are no “law of attraction” vibes here. Instead, it’s about aligning your efforts with what you care about most deeply. Coherence opens doors — and gives you the energy to traverse them.