[cJ0th]

The whole thread resonates quite strongly with me. Many interesting points are made. I was just recently wondering whether I should pursue goals when engaging in activities I do for fun. Like you wrote, it is feels so corporation-ish but then again they seem to motivate us.

Another aspect, however, concerns motivation vs. commitment. When it comes to hobbies I am quite driven by motivation. Unfortunately, motivation often doesn't last long. That's why many people point out that commitment [doing something despite a momentary lack of motivation] > motivation.

And this gets me back to square one as commitment is something I rather associate with corporate culture than leisure time. [Of course, you could make being commited x times a week a goal to get some satisfaction out of it but I doubt that would work for me. It probably also depends on the activity: I can commit myself to regular exercise but I can not force myself to sit down and write some music 3x/week]

[hyp0]

I've heard that action precedes motivation - you force yourself to start, and then you become engaged. I've found this is true for me.

Many (not all) professional novelists have a schedule, to ensure they write each day. They force themselves to type X words, or sit there for X hours (they get bored and start writing). But that's work, not leisure.

I think a distinction here is relaxation verses intrinsically meaningful activity. Many people find the latter the most rewarding... but goofing off and aimlessly following our whims, just for fun, has a place too. (Actually this worked well for Feynman).