Understanding Life Goals – A Narrative Review Paper

Background: Life goals play a significant role in every individual’s life. They are one of the important components of meaning-making, the purpose of life, and accomplishment. There is an exhaustive literature on life goals and their influence on an individual’s life. Only a few papers in the past have focused on the underlying mechanisms of life goals, nonetheless, they are scattered. Comprehensive knowledge and a one-stop guide on the underlying mechanisms to understand life goals in totality are scarce. Objective: This narrative review study aims at compiling the existing literature on the underlying mechanisms of life goals.  The paper also aims at providing a ready reckoner / quick guide to understand life goals. Methods: The search was conducted in PubMed, ResearchGate, APA PsycNet, MEDLINE and ScienceDirect published from January 2000 to September 2023. Two Reviewers independently reviewed the articles and books which met the criteria. The final set includes 36 academic articles, 9 additional articles related to the topic and 3 books. Results:  Results are grouped thematically as follows: a) Types of life goals, b) Factors that influence Life goals, and c) Goal attainment process. Conclusions:  Life goals hold greater importance in the wellbeing of an individual, therefore holistically understanding them in depth becomes necessary. The current review paper was able to provide the nitty-gritty of different types of goals, factors that influence life goals, and their attainment process. This review paper has successfully attempted to provide a comprehensive outlook to life goals and can serve as a quick reference guide to health practitioners and the population in general to study life goals and plan any life goal-related intervention. Goal setting along with mentoring and guidance has been demonstrated to be effective in past research. These findings may help researchers to better understand life goals and ways to promote these in individuals through goal setting and goal management.