The aim itself is not objective but a subjective formulation, so the only way that it can "run away" from you is if the means you choose to employ in pursuit of the aim contradict the aim itself. i.e. if you aim to be rich, the goal is not "money", per se, but "obtaining money," which means the aim has to be accomplished through means. But living just to "obtain money" is essentially vacuous, so if you believed that having money was the route to genuine satisfaction, but were unwilling to give yourself over body and soul to its pursuit (which is what people who really want money do, often quite ruthlessly and successfully) then you would find yourself in pursuit of a quarry you could never catch. So there is some truth to the metaphor. But I don't think eliminating goal-oriented thinking is the solution. Rather, recognizing that there must be conformity of means to ends, formulating goals that are "nearby" and whose accomplishment is at least partially realized in the pursuit (i.e. running a business).