The Single Decision

How to make changes with teleological vision.

About two years ago, I wrote a piece that made the rounds — “A Technique for Deciding How to Say No.” This concept, while not explicitly stated, utilized the notion of teleology to create a constraint for what you should give your time to.

A Technique for Deciding When to Say No

The insights of the article can certainly be useful in today’s conversation, but the teleological emphasis was how a vision assists in forming the notion of what you should not do (which therefore helps delineate what you should do). Two years later, I’d like to frame a process using teleology again.

This time, however, let’s explore how to use the same concept to explicitly create a destination for catalyzing changes you want to make in your life and in the world.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Defintion of teleology.
• Why purposive goals are necessary for making changes.
• How an ideal ought to adapt to changing circumstances.
• Exercise One: Affirmations
• Exercise Two: Goals, Plans, Actions

Teleology

First, this slathering word must be described.

Teleology comes from the Greek word “telos” which just means end or goal. Primarily a feature of moral philosophy and ethics, teleology is the concept of viewing the world and making decisions about the world by how one believes the world ought to be summed up or completed. Philosophers who take on a teleological framework view the world through the lens of how things ought to be; there is a vision of potential that informs the present. Notably, those with a theological perspective often employ the concept of teleology. However, even philosophers such as Plato and his theory of forms shows the variety that can exist within teleological perspectives.

Ethicists are the most likely to use the concept. In fact, teleology is one the primary staples of ethical…