A black belt is a big aim in training for karate. I had worked damn hard for many years to get mine. Then things start to get a bit more internally focussed. You train for you, not the next belt. After ten years of belt chasing, this was a bit of a change in mind set and, in truth, I never adapted.
...seems it isn't confined to art or games, the problem of grasping how to do something for yourself, and not the next shiny Achievement.
Which makes me feel slightly bad about how marketing is really moving towards building Achievement systems into everything. But at the same time, it works. Alas!
Maybe the problem is that when it comes down to it, people tend to prefer the safety of following a path, or being led, to the responsibility that comes with freedom of choice.