#Goals: a trend too far?

The word ‘goals’ has become so engrained into everyday dialogue that I don’t even remember when it started. ‘Relationship goals’, ‘career goals’, ‘squad goals’ – there are goals for everything now.

I can’t scroll down a single social media site without seeing the word used, and not only has the word lost all meaning, it has also become a bizarre standard by which we measure our self-worth.

This may sound over the top, but take friendship for example. The great thing about friendship is that they’re unique; so as long as your friends enrich each other’s lives in some way it doesn’t really matter whether or not you and your friends live up to the standards social media propagates.

Just because we don’t have matching phone cases, we’re still best friends and that goes without saying…

However, according to Instagram, ‘friendship goals’ means that, if you and your best friend (who looks more like your identical twin, with perfectly straight blonde hair and matching white crop tops) don’t watch make up tutorials on FaceTime with one another and then take a nap together, are you really best friends? (I did my research for this by the way, and this is an actual post I saw on Twitter).

The short answer is: yes, of course you’re still best friends. My best friend from home and I can never really relate to more than half of those “25 Things Best Friends Do” Buzzfeed articles, but it doesn’t make our friendship any less valid. Just because we don’t have matching phone cases, we’re still best friends and that goes without saying.

The pressure of #Goals means that you feel like you should want to do this stuff and if you don’t then your relationship is substandard…

Also, the term ‘relationship goals’ is thrown around so much that I’m pretty sure people behave a certain way while in a relationship simply because they think it’s what they should be doing rather than what they actually want to do. If you want to upload a picture of your boyfriend as your “Man Crush Monday” on Instagram then please feel free, but don’t feel like you should because it’s #RelationshipGoals to show off your other half to the entire world.

If the thought of doing so makes you cringe (as it does to me) then it doesn’t mean your relationship isn’t a good one; it just means you’re not about that PDA life. If your preferred idea of Valentine’s Day with your partner isn’t getting dressed up and going for a candlelit dinner, but is instead getting Dominos and watching Friends repeats, that’s what you should do.

The bottom line is: if your life isn’t matching the ‘goals’ Instagram is telling you it should, don’t worry because no one’s life is ‘goals’ all the time…

The pressure of #Goals means that you feel like you should want to do this stuff and if you don’t then your relationship is substandard, but it’s your relationship and you should do whatever makes you and your partner happy, not what will earn you approval from your Facebook friends.

Of course, the use of ‘goals’ is usually light-hearted and isn’t going to bring about the apocalypse anytime soon (at least I hope not). However, the bottom line is: if your life isn’t matching the ‘goals’ Instagram is telling you it should, don’t worry because no one’s life is ‘goals’ all the time. Not even Taylor Swift with her apparently flawless eyeliner/wardrobe/boyfriend.