What would you think if you asked someone to state his goals in life & he told you "to survive" and that's it?

Answer 1

not a bad plan.

Answer 2

if i knew that the person was not too verbal, i'd say his goal was good. the reason i say that is because i think he meant that his goals would change over time, but that they would all be tied into his surviving.

you cannot make specific goals unless you are shown how making them can make them come true. goals that require money to attain them are best suited for definition and planning. they really usually do come true because if you know the price of something that you want, a goal that will make your survival easier, then you save the amount of money you need to get it.

but asking the question, "what are your goals in life" is a little bit vague. the response "to survive" is vague and defined at the same time. it is vague to you because you do not ask your friend what he means by surviving. yet the answer, to him, is succinct because "to survive" is an all-encompassing answer.

Answer 3

Depends on the way he said it. Tone of voice, voice inflection facial expression, body language. This could tell you if he's just "shrugging it off" as if doesn't matter, or this is his "grim" reality--just to make it. It could also, if candidly & calmly said, mean that he's rather a philosophical guy. Perhaps only the "moment" is important to him, plus--to SURVIVE could be INCLUSIVE, without using a lot of excess verbiage, you think?

Edit: THANK you Louiegirl! I really liked this question, because I didn't necessarily take a dim view of it, & I WANTED to answer, but Yahoo! kept telling me I'd reached my quota (60) which isn't true, so I kept going back. I see it worked. Yours was a very thoughtful answer, & I hope it gets chosen. (Or is this considered "chatting?" To the asker--PLEASE read my answer & Louiegirl's...

Answer 4

I guess perhaps the person hasn't thought his life through at that point or else isn't in the most positive frame of mind.

It could be either, or something else entirely. I wouldn't make a snap judgment if I didn't really know the person that well.

Answer 5

I'd think he wasn't ambitious enough. It's not enough to just survive! Survival is the bare minimum! Who wants to strive for the bare minimum as a life goal?

Answer 6

The the person is depressed and stressed to the max. I have often had that answer when someone asked me that question. For me, it meant I was overwhelmed to the max and could only think of how to get to the next day.

Answer 7

when asked what my career goal is, I said, retire. I am comfortable in my life and work.
survival is a good thing when content.

Answer 8

He feels like the world is against him and he needs help and support brought into his life.

Answer 9

I would think that he or she needed a friend to show them that there is more to life than fear .

Answer 10

i would be kinda dissapointed in the answer!!!