Week 5: Stop Chasing Goals That Don't Actually Matter

Pink Salad is always a good idea

I know it sounds crazy, but trust me on this one. Recipe at the end to hopefully motivate you to read all the way to the reflection prompts.

Every Thanksgiving, our family serves what was dubbed generations ago as “pink salad”. It has nothing to do with salad. It’s an old-fashioned gelatin dish made with cranberries and whipped cream (apparently, we were ahead of the curve on this).

I have inherited a lot from my grandmother, including her Jell-O mold, her recipes, and her values.

So many holiday traditions come from other eras and generations. Some, like love of family and this pink salad, I’ll choose again and again. Others, like only showing up where I’m invited like a “proper lady”, I’m done with.

This week, as we gather around tables full of hand-me-downs, it’s worth asking: Which traditions and values are we keeping because they still serve us? And which ones are we keeping just because we’ve always kept them?

A client told me recently that she’s been chasing a promotion for three years. Working late. Taking on extra projects. Networking aggressively. Doing everything “right.”

But when she finally got the offer last month, she felt... nothing. No excitement. No relief. Just a hollow sense of “Is this it?”

As we dug deeper, we looked at what she actually values right now. Not five years ago, when she started chasing the promotion. Right now.

Rest. Creative work. Time with her aging parents. Making a positive impact.

The promotion would give her none of those things. It would actually take her further from what mattered most.

She’d been solving for outdated values. Working toward a goal that made sense in 2019 but didn’t fit who she’s become in 2025.

Orienting our goals for the future toward priorities from the past will only leave us frustrated and disappointed.

So, as we continue building our strategic plans for 2026, we are taking a close look at our values, both the ones that are worth keeping, like pink salad, and the ones that need to go, like turkey (sorry, not sorry to those who actually like it).

This Week’s Reflection: Your Current Values

What do you value most RIGHT NOW in this season of life? Not what you should value or what you used to value. What actually matters to you today? What are you unwilling to sacrifice anymore? What lights you up? What makes you feel aligned?

Where are you still solving for outdated values? Where are you chasing goals that made sense five years ago but don’t fit who you’ve become? What are you working toward out of momentum rather than genuine desire? What would you stop pursuing if you were being honest?

If you designed your life around your current values, what would change? What would you do more of? Less of? What decisions would you make differently? What would you stop tolerating? What would you protect fiercely?

Your fellow values-clarifier,
Aransas

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