本文探讨了“我的目标是什么？”这一简单而强大的问题在提升行动效率中的作用。通过在玩游戏、辩论、产品开发等场景中应用这一问题，作者展示了它如何帮助人们快速定位目标，避免无效努力，并优化决策过程。文章强调了在项目开始或遇到困惑时，及时明确目标的重要性，并提供了练习方法，鼓励读者将这一策略应用于自身实践，从而更有效地实现目标。

🤔 **明确目标的重要性**：文章开篇强调了在行动前明确目标的重要性，认为这是提升效率、避免无用功的关键。通过提问“我的目标是什么？”，可以帮助人们迅速聚焦于核心问题，避免在无关紧要的细节上浪费时间。

🎮 **游戏中的应用**：在玩益智游戏时，如果陷入困境，提问“我的目标是什么？”可以帮助玩家快速意识到游戏的目标，从而调整策略，专注于解决阻碍通关的障碍，而不是漫无目的地尝试。

🗣️ **辩论中的应用**：在辩论中，明确目标有助于调整沟通策略。如果目标是说服对方，就需要了解对方的观点，并选择合适的论证方式；如果目标是保持沟通顺畅，则需要避免激化矛盾，创造安全的交流环境。

💡 **产品开发中的应用**：在产品开发中，明确目标可以帮助团队聚焦于核心需求，避免在细节上花费过多时间。例如，在撰写项目提案时，明确目标有助于团队评估不同想法的可行性，并根据目标调整工作重点，更快地找到最佳方案。

⏰ **触发时机**：文章建议在项目开始、分配时间、感到困惑或对当前行动产生怀疑时，及时提问“我的目标是什么？”。这有助于避免在错误的方向上投入过多时间，并及时调整策略以达成目标。

Published on July 2, 2025 2:58 AM GMT

The first in a series of bite-sized rationality prompts^[1].

 

This is my most common opening-move for Instrumental Rationality. There are many, many other pieces of instrumental rationality. But asking this question is usually a helpful way to get started. Often, simply asking myself "what's my goal?" is enough to direct my brain to a noticeably better solution, with no further work.

 

Examples

Puzzle Games

I'm playing Portal 2, or Baba is You. I'm fiddling around with the level randomly, sometimes going in circles. I notice I've been doing that awhile. 

I ask "what's my goal?"

And then my eyes automatically glance at the exit for the level and realize I can't possibly make progress unless I solve a particular obstacle, which none of my fiddling-around was going to help with.

 

Arguing

I'm arguing with a person, poking holes in their position. I easily notice considerations that feel really compelling to me that reinforce that my side is correct. I notice it's getting heated. 

I ask "what's my goal?"

And then realize I had basically been trying to look smart and "win" some kind of imaginary points. But what I actually needed to do was either change their mind. Which requires modeling their current beliefs and figure out what would actually persuade them, not what cached beliefs are compelling to me. 

(Or, which requires de-escalating the tension and making it feel safe for them to consider changing their mind, whereas I'd previously been actively been implying that if I was right, they were dumb and should feel dumb and nobody wants to feel that way)

((Or, maybe... I actually want to learn and potentially change my mind about something, and repeating reasons that I already think I'm right isn't really helping anyone))

 

Product Discovery

I'm writing up a proposal for what my team should do next. I'm fleshing out a lot of details, getting excited about possibilities. I notice I've spent a couple days on this.

I ask "what's my goal?"

And the answer is "help my boss figure out what we should do next." My boss has given me a couple weeks to come up with some pitches for what to do. And I realize:

a) for the first week, I should probably doing a lot more exploring of radically different ideas rather than latching onto the first one I came up with.

b) I should be anticipating what my boss's objections will be, since it's ultimately his call.

I begin strategically directing my attention to areas that will help me find more novel ideas, and asking "what would be the fastest way to figure out if this idea is any good?"

 

Triggers

When to ask "what's my goal?"?

One good time is "when you are first starting a project, or allocating a block of time", so you just skip ahead past a lot of meandering unstrategic false starts on the wrong problem.

(Sometimes, at the beginning of a project, you will decide "my goal is to figure out wtf I'm even doing, and the best way to do that is via meandering play without stressing about goals." But, this time you actually doublechecked first)

Another good time is "when you get a nagging feeling that you're doing the wrong thing" or "you notice you sure have been spending a lot of time on this particular step, and are feeling bored or frustrated."

 

Exercises for the Reader

Note: if you don't feel like doing all of these, 

Come up with 1-2 recent times you would have benefited from asking yourself "what's my goal?" earlier.

Come up with 1-2 projects/actions you're currently in the middle of, where you have a nagging suspicion you're not really tackling the right goal. 

Come up with 1-2 moments you expect to run into in the next week where it seems likely you're going to go tackle something without really understanding your goals and predictably waste some time.

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See also summoning-sapience and Humans are not automatically strategic 

1. ^{^}

   I am experimenting with the mantra "your rationality paradigm is not complete until it is decomposed into simple sentences that people can immediately understand."

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