We see them practically every time we scroll through our news feeds: expensively exotic vacations, oversized dream closets filled to the brim, beautiful models with enviable hair and freakishly perfect figures. It’s posts like these on popular social media outlets (such as Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr) that spawned the viral trend of claiming something as a “goal.” Phrases like “Hair goals,” “Body goals,” “Future goals,” “Relationship goals,” and more have been popping up left and right these days. But this trend is doing more harm than good.

Now don’t get me wrong here: I enjoy looking at posts of gorgeous mansions and unnecessarily-huge walk-in shoe closets as much as the next girl. And it’s extremely true that setting goals for yourself is an easy and therapeutic way to get organized for the future. Without goals, most of us would have less of an idea about where we want to be and what we want to be doing when we get there. But are these outlandish, nearly-unattainable people, places, and things really worth being called “goals?” Can we trust that these picture-perfect things even exist?

Well, the beauty of the internet is that there really is no beauty in it at all.

In today’s world of filtering, copying, and pasting, it’s hard to definitively *know* what’s 100 percent real and what’s edited. That photo you saw of the girl with super-edgy, pastel-hued hair was most likely retouched to add in those fun colors. And the water in that picture of the Bahamas probably isn’t that blue in person. Editing is everywhere and we promote it every single time we retweet, share, or comment on a picture with the label of it being one of our “goals.”

The biggest culprit of this is the fashion industry. Models and celebrities are notoriously photoshopped for online advertisements and print magazines to have the ideal body shape, hair, and facial features. The measurements that we now dub as “body goals” can only be attained by an eraser tool on a computer. Telling young women that they need to look like a Victoria’s Secret angel to achieve their “goals” is both false and unfair. As a society, we should be promoting the idea of trailblazing; making your own path with your own personal achievements in mind, without envying anyone else for theirs. We should not be living to simply recreate the things we see on our timelines; that’s really not “living” at all.

What the young, social media-savvy generation needs is a break from these pre-set “goals” to focus on creating their own aspirations. Instead of worrying about what we see on Instagram or Tumblr, let’s celebrate having our own plans for the future; because living an original, authentic life is the greatest “goal” of all.