Starting with the end in mind can prove useful in taming our sense of overwhelm, but when it comes to our ambitions and goals, it can also exacerbate frustration, disappointment, and anxiety because there is no end in sight. The concept of “teleoanticipation,” a term coined in 1996 by German physiologist Hans-Volkhart Ulmer, suggests that when we can anticipate the end of a task, we stagger our expenditure of energy in order to sustain the doing of that task. But what happens when there is no end, like in our ambitious pursuits? Or when the sense of arrival remains elusive?
