Have you ever felt that were achieving the goals you had set for yourself, but their completion did not bring about the satisfaction you hoped for? It may help to consider telic projects and atelic processes.
A telic activity is one that is completable, such as a goal set for myself. An atelic activity is one that is incompletable, such as the process of doing a task.
Telic activities, when completed, can leave a void behind because the goal has been achieved. Atelic activities never reach completion, but are rather about the value gained as part of the ongoing process.
For example, a telic goal could be to graduate university or get married, while an atelic process could be to continue learning or developing a relationship. The former has a completion point, an end goal, while the latter is more of a general direction, an improving process.
Atelic processes are not about living in the future or the past, but rather are about living in the present. Telic goals are something to look forward to, a future event, but when they are reached or completed, they instantly move to the past.
It is the difference of the journey vs the destination, of living in the present vs always switching from the future to the past. The present provides an opportunity to develop processes that enable living life well, without creating a void due to their completion.
It is the difference of associating yourself with the direction the process will take your identity rather than setting a goal that can be finished and forgotten.
I can have a goal to complete a 10 km race, or I can have an identity of being a runner that, as a part of my lifestyle, would be the type of person to run a 10 km race. The goal is of the future and then the past, but the identity of a runner is one that is ever present.
Desiring things that we don’t have leads to a value gap in our lives, creating a void that can be difficult to fill. This void can lead to a feeling of lack of direction, of aimlessness that takes away from satisfaction of many things in life.
A helpful way to deal with this problem is that of reframing by identifying the atelic aspects of telic projects. I can have a goal of exercising every day, and be disappointed in myself when I don’t, or I can reframe and consider that I want to identify as a healthy person.
As a healthy person, I would expect to exercise regularly. Missing a day here and there doesn’t take away from my sense of identity. Tellically, I have failed a goal, but atellically, I am another step along my journey and can perhaps take another healthy action that day.
The more I reframe to consider the atelic aspects of my life, the more I can develop a general compass for my identity. A compass that has been carefully crafted over time to point in the general direction of living well, in whatever way that means to me as an individual.
This compass can help dictate my actions in each moment, without thinking of the concept of success or failure, which leads to the creation of the void. I can remain in and around the present, without fearing for the future or regretting the past.
One of the most helpful ways to develop this compass of identity, this ability to remain in the present and just be, is that of mindfulness. Mindfulness can be different for each person, but the general aspect is that its practice helps people remain in the present.
Specifically, meditation is the practice of being still and becoming aware of awareness. Sometimes people use an anchor to the present, such as breathing. Breathing is an atelic process. We don’t complete the goal of breathing, we do it constantly to stay alive.
The more I practice mindfulness and meditation, the easier it is for me to remain in the present, to hold onto that compass of my identity during difficult times in my life that would otherwise create a void.
We are conditioned as humans to always be solving problems. Problems have solutions, and are therefore resolved. They are telic goals, things we feel we must accomplish in order to move forward in life and be satisfied.
Taking time each day to practice mindfulness can be viewed as an opportunity to stop solving problems, and just be. These moments are rare in the average course of a day, so it is important to intentionally make time for them. No one else will do this for you.
While mindfulness can be practiced at any time of day, multiple times a day, doing so first thing in the morning (read, before checking your phone) can be the most effective. This is because it is a period before you have thought about problems relating to other people.
By taking the first part of your day and using it to ground yourself in your present self, to build your compass, you can drastically improve your attention span and your ability to deal with the problems of others throughout the rest of your day.
Each day you do this, you can improve slightly at your ability to intentionally control your attention and the direction of your life in a way that is natural. 1% better every day for a year is 37 times better than last year.
When was the last time you sat still for 5-10 minutes and asked yourself “what is left when there are no problems to solve?”
If you found this helpful or interesting, I would love to hear your thoughts! The more we learn how this practice helps each of us, the more we can collectively improve. Please feel free to leave questions or comments below.
Continue reading about philosophy for troubled times with: Confronting Injustice.
Find the full list of mindful thoughts here.
