http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoalInLife

Homer Simpson, The Simpsons "All my life I've had one dream: to achieve my many goals."

One of the most difficult things in life (perhaps the most), is trying to figure out what to do with it. To find some sort of reason behind it all. For some people, this might never be answered. Others turn to religion or something similar to tell them what to do. And some already have a reason.

They've found a Goal in Life.

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It might be anything from just trying to have a good life to saving REALITY ITSELF! The one thing they all share though is a purpose to go through their lives to accomplish that goal.

The protagonist accomplishing it often constitutes the end of the story, usually in a Grand Finale.

Someone who forgets his Goal in Life has suffered Motive Decay. The Motivation Index has a few life long goals that a person's Goal in Life may be expressed through, although not all would qualify, especially if it's not specific enough or too short term. See the related Series Goal for the goal of the work in question, instead of an individual character's goal. Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life is for those whose Goal in Life is to find a Goal in Life. The Meaning of Life is for when a work actually defines what the Goal in Life in general is.

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Examples

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Anime & Manga

Comic Strips

Marla in Retail has one goal in life: finally get out of Grumbel's and start her own business. However, things keep coming up that force her to delay her goals: the recession, getting pregnant, getting promoted to store manager (and the responsibility that comes with it). The longer she put it off, the more she wonders if she really wants to do it anymore. She eventually confesses to Val that her goal's no longer feasible: it's become too big a risk for her to leave Grumbel's since she has a mortgage, her family needs her health insurance, and she had to think of her daughter's future. When Grumbel's files for bankruptcy, she decides to get out of retail altogether and takes a job as an office manager.

Fan Works

Erwin and Hange in Passionate Pragmatism want to maximize happiness for humanity.

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Film

The heroes in Mystery Team just want to gain back the respect of the neighborhood... which they haven't had since they were seven.

Literature

Live-Action TV

Roleplay

Hyeon's goal in Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues is to become a famous rock star and get the hell out of Oldport. This influences much of his personality, as anything that isn't directly related to said goal is treated as tertiary.

Tabletop Games

Visual Novels

In Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! it's a central plot point in Wanko's route. Seeing her working so hard for the sake of her goal inspires Yamato to revive his own childhood dream of becoming a man capable of moving Japan itself, i.e. the Prime Minister . In the epilogue ten years later, he's shown to have worked his way up to becoming a city council member . Momoyo's route features the same idea, but with slightly different motivations.

Western Animation

Mr. Bickles from The Fairly OddParents has a different "dream" in every episode he's in.

A few of the mane six in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic have goals in life: Rarity's is to be one of the top fashion designers in Equestria. It's being accomplished, slowly, throughout the show with her opening a boutique in Canterlot being the most recent step in that direction. Rainbow Dash's is to become a Wonderbolt (The Equestrian equivalent of the Blue Angels). Right now she's an auxillary Wonderbolt, one step away from reaching her goal in life. Fluttershy's is only revealed in season seven: to create an animal sanctuary. She accomplishes this in the episode where we learn of it, after some hard knocks.

The Simpsons: Homer Simpson has had frequent "lifelong dreams" parodying the concept (such as rushing onto the field during a baseball game), the played straight-est version being when he revealed he's always wanted to own the Dallas Cowboys. He gets started on the road towards Cowboy ownership buy (a) buying Tom Landry's Cool Hat from a collectible store and (b) being given the Denver Broncos by a Super Villain he briefly worked for. Homer wasn't happy about (b), though, since the Broncos were the laughing stock of the NFL at the time, a far cry from the then-dominant Cowboys. Every time, Marge points out Homer already had a lifelong dream, which he has already achieved.

Real Life