'Don’t follow your dreams': Hank Green’s unconventional advice for success

We’re often told that we need to set goals or milestones to work our way up to success. However, author and entrepreneur Hank Green has a different theory. In his video on YouTube, he made a shocking statement about what led to his success: “I don’t have goals.” Elaborating further, the author suggested taking a more realistic approach while proceeding with career, life or anything at all. Dreams and envisioned goals are often dynamic, and several other factors restrict our growth and capacity and Green brilliantly uncovered how to set oneself up for success without all that pressure.

Sharing his own perspective, the man noted that if he could get rid of dreams and goals, he certainly would. He added that many of his achievements were never in the books for him. For instance, he revealed that becoming a YouTuber was never part of his dreams. He wanted to be a science communicator but that never became a reality until a few things that were completely off his list took place. When he first started his channel, he put videos as a musician — again, never on the cards. It wasn’t until 2011 that he started sharing content about science. “Don’t follow your dreams, follow your tools,” he remarked. 

Green noted that tools could be anything we have on us — our values, our inspirations, factors of motivation and encouragement, and so on. It is these things that help us build up to success. He mentioned that having one single dream to be something doesn’t work. The reason is “a bunch of other things pass by, and you just watch them pass by because they're not the thing you wanted to be.” It’s when we start looking at our “toolkit” that we figure out how we grow. And sometimes, this toolkit might not be complete; we may need to branch out and learn other things along the way, and one thing leads to another until you discover what truly inspires you. 

The author noted that the best and most challenging part of his life was the fact that his toolkit was so dynamic. “It's my personal relationships. It's trust. It's the audience. It's the skill. It's talent. It's like all this stuff that I've built up,” he pointed out. Many people have asked Green how this could work out because you’re not working with a plan. And he had a brilliant response to that, too. He mentioned that it’s not always about growing upwards. For him, growing his toolkit meant taking the easier option and going with the flow. He confessed that he is honest about how much he can put in for any given commitment, and he works with that instead of pressurizing himself. 

“I am hardworking but I don't feel like I'm hardworking because mostly I'm just doing what I want to do,” Green explained. And that it’s freeing, to not follow a scripted plan and just grow beyond lines and limitations. The takeaway is not to just dwell on the good ideas but also to incorporate the okay and bad ideas. Even if they don’t work out, you’ve gained life lessons and possibly other skills along the way. According to New Scientist, achieving goals and planning them is great, but there are also benefits to exploring other opportunities and not having a rigid idea of success. 

Psychologist Carsten Wrosch at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, has been researching this idea since the early 2000s. He designed the goal adjustment scale (GAS) to see how easy it is for people to circle back to success if their predetermined goals don't work out. His findings revealed that those who can easily adapt to different milestones than planned tend to have a better quality of life. In a study published by the Nature journal, the author Kentaro Fujita of The Ohio State University mentioned that it is equally important to walk away from certain goals because we often have competing goals, and some of them have to be dropped along the way.

It was revealed that goal disengagement can lead to well-being and also better aid towards success. “I think it [often] takes as much self-control to give up as it does to stick to a goal,” Fujita noted. For many, this was a relief. @mookiemon said, “I've never heard anyone else vocalize the whole 'not having dreams' thing, and it makes me feel less alone.” @StrawberryVertigo added, “I felt broken and stupid for a long time because I couldn't stick to goals/dreams because my interests are so varied and fleeting. This was so validating.” 

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