How to Set Goals in France (& Why French Bureaucracy Forces You To)

Whether you’re dreaming and scheming about moving to France, thick in the process of moving over here, have already arrived and are setting up life or have been here for a period of time and have a rhythm, you’ll most likely be confronted with a moment where you will need to set up some goals. This can be for any event, opportunity, change that life brings along. There are several things that you need to keep in mind when it comes to France and setting goals, no matter how big or small. 

Setting goals in France has been very different than compared to setting goals back in Ohio. There are administrative timelines are longer than usual, the systems seem rigid and out of date, and there’s a constant, uncertain force that causes you to rethink ambition, patience, and progress. Here are some things I’ve learned in my time living in France and creating a life here when it comes to French bureaucracy and how it quietly reshapes the way we now plan our lives.

French Bureaucracy Runs on Long Timelines, Whether You’re Ready or Not

In France, many life goals depend on administrative approval. Things like residency permits, work authorization, healthcare registration, childcare, housing, the list goes on and on. These processes move slowly and often without clear deadlines, which forces you to plan months, or years, ahead. You are left scratching your head as to whether you’ve made the right step, if anything is missing, or it’s just plain lost. Goal-setting becomes less about speed and more about sequencing and patience. You don’t just set goals, you wait for permission to pursue them.

You Learn to Separate What You Can Control From What You Can’t

French administration teaches immigrants a hard but necessary lesson: some steps are entirely outside your control. Appointments get postponed, files disappear, timelines change, documents are requested over and over again. Effective goal-setting in France means building flexibility into your plans and redefining success around effort, preparation, and adaptability rather than outcomes alone. You need to be able to pivot, sometimes at a moment’s notice, in order to move to the next step. Progress in France often happens quietly and invisibly, sometimes when you least expect it. 

Short-Term Goals Matter More Than Grand Visions

Because big goals (career changes, long-term housing, business plans) often depend on administrative clearance, immigrants in France tend to shift toward smaller, practical milestones. This can help make the process more manageable and less disappointing. Gathering documents, understanding how systems move, and preparing backups becomes part of the goal itself, not just the means to an end. Survival goals come before dream goals. As long as you can make it to that next titre de séjour renewal, the next step in a job interview, or an apartment viewing. 

The French System Forces You to Slow Down, Emotionally and Mentally

Living within a slower, more rigid system reshapes how you relate to ambition. France’s administrative system seems to be stuck in prehistoric times with how slow some branches move to make a decision. This is not a reflection on you, per se, but a reflection on how the system is maintained. Goals in France often unfold in stages, with long pauses in between. Over time, many immigrants stop chasing urgency and start valuing stability, sustainability, and mental health, sometimes reluctantly, sometimes gratefully. France doesn’t reward the hustle; it rewards endurance.

You Redefine Success on French Terms, Without Losing Yourself

Eventually, many immigrants learn to set goals that respect French realities without abandoning their own values. This might mean longer timelines, fewer simultaneous goals, or more emphasis on quality of life. Goal-setting becomes an act of negotiation between who you were before France and who you’re becoming within it. In a sense, it forces you to stop and think, to slow down and reflect. Adapting doesn’t mean shrinking your ambition, it means translating it.

Leading up to my move to France, I did so much research, like notebooks full of information. I could probably write a novel on the things I learned, the steps I took, and the processes I followed. I had come from a background of hustle and grind and that took years of undoing. I can safely say that since my move to France in 2020, I have embraced how the French view a lot of things, in particular, how to set goals and what those goals look like compared to the goals I had in Ohio. 

I was never really someone to set lofty goals or had huge ambitions, I was already a bit modest in that department to begin with. I can thank my upbringing and background. So when I arrived in France, I already knew what I was facing when it came to making goals for my new life here. Taking it one step at a time was the best mindset and tackling one goal at a time. Moving to fast (or sometimes not fast enough for my liking), expecting to much too soon, or not being able to have control over certain aspects have started to become a thing of the past.