Difference between 目的 and 目标 I don’t manage to grasp the difference between the two words 目的 or 目标. 

I have seen some explanations stating that 目的 means purpose and 目标 objective but I don’t know if it is a cultural issue or not but there’s no difference for me between those two English words, which are mere synonyms...

If I have a purpose, I have an objective and vice versa... my end / main goal would be as much an objective as it would be a purpose so I really don’t get where the difference is... 

To me, it all means the result I expect/ work on... if I meant the different steps to reach my goal, I’d use the word “step” for that so I’m quite confused by what their differences may be...

Would anyone mind to elaborate a bit more?

Thanks for your input.
目的: goal/ purpose (intention of reaching an outcome)
Example: 目的是杀死比尔 = the goal is to kill bill (kill Bill is an intention and desire)

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目标: goal/ objective/ target (intention of accomplishing something)
Example: 目标是杀死比尔 = the goal is to kill Bill (kill Bill is an intention and also an achievement)

目标 can mean &quot;target&quot; ; 目的 cannot
Example:目标是金牌 (the target is the gold medal)
You cannot say 目的是金牌 (the goal is the gold medal), you have to say 目的是夺取金牌 (the goal is to take the gold medal) and you have to state an action that would lead to the outcome, e.g 他每天训练8个小时, 目的是夺取金牌 (he trains 8 hours a day, the goal is to take the gold medal)
One more example:

目标是创造一百万个新工作 (the goal/target is to create one million new jobs)
一百万 is the targeted number; 创造一百万个新工作 is an achievement

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&quot;政府向小公司提供十亿美元的补贴, 目的是创造新工作&quot;
&quot;The government offers one billion dollars subsidy to small companies, the goal is to create jobs&quot;

Edit:
After reading the OP and others' comments, I would try to make it as simple as possible for the OP to understand the difference between 目的 and 目标

When using 目的 (intention/ goal)  you need to state specific means  that would lead to the fulfillment of the goal. Many examples have been stated by me and the others. e.g. 每天训练8个小时 (train 8 hours everyday) is a specific mean.

When using 目标 (target/ goal) You can omit the action. e.g. 我的目标是金牌 (my target is the gold medal). It implies you would achieve this goal by all means in general

Just remember 目的 = intention (need to state specific action before it); 目标= target (don't need to state specific action before it, it implies using 'all' or 'any' mean by default.)


You can still state specific action when using 目标, but it would just be one of many actions you specifically state. e.g. &quot;我每天训练8个小时, 我的目标是夺取金牌&quot;  can almost be treated as unrelated, separate sentences; while &quot;我每天训练8个小时&quot; and  &quot;目的是夺取金牌&quot; are definitely related