Whose Goals Are You Really Chasing?

There’s something strange that happens when you open the Uber Driver app. You log in with your own reasons. Your own goals. Maybe it’s to pay a bill, get ahead on rent, or make just enough to justify putting your car on the road today.

But once you’re in the app, it doesn’t take long before you find yourself chasing something else entirely.

Recently, Uber rolled out a new feature: Driving Insights, a dashboard powered by Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT). It tracks things like phone handling, hard braking, sharp turns, speeding, and acceleration. The stated goal? Safer roads, better experiences for passengers, and self-awareness for drivers.

Fair enough.

But here’s what actually happens.

A New Score. A New Obsession.

Drivers now have another score to worry about—another rating to maintain, another metric that can affect eligibility for perks like Advantage Mode, or trigger cash incentives (I personally received one for $25). How long these incentives last? Who knows. But the pull is real.

Suddenly, you’re adjusting your driving not just for safety, not just for efficiency, but for a score. You’re watching your dashboard and rethinking turns. You’re mounting your phone a certain way. You’re not just working—you’re performing.

And the question is: who are you performing for?

The App Writes the Script

This is how Uber works. It inserts new objectives into your workflow with the appearance of reasonableness and reward. And it happens quietly.

One day you’re out to hit your earnings goal. The next, you’re chasing a safer driving score you never asked for, hoping to unlock a mode you didn’t even know existed two weeks ago. Not because it aligns with your goals—but because it was placed in front of you. Rewarded. Highlighted. Nudged into focus.

Uber’s strength lies in behavioral design. They don’t just show you options—they shape your attention. They know that if they surface a new metric, score, or bonus long enough, you’ll start tracking it like it matters.

Even if it doesn’t.

Even if it pulls you further from what you came to do.

Incentives or Influence?

There’s nothing wrong with driving safely. There’s nothing wrong with self-improvement. But there is something wrong when a system meant to empower independent contractors begins to shape their behavior in ways that prioritize the platform’s metrics over their own financial goals.

Uber doesn’t pay for your car. Or your fuel. Or your time off. Yet they’re increasingly dictating the terms of how you drive—and rewarding you for serving their objectives.

Not yours.

Ask Yourself

   •   Did you log in today to serve your business—or Uber’s?

   •   Do you know your goals—and how they differ from the platform’s?

   •   Are you being incentivized to improve—or subtly conditioned to comply?

This is not paranoia. It’s pattern recognition. The app isn’t just a tool—it’s a guide, a coach, a manipulator of behavior disguised as software.

And if you’re not paying attention, you’ll find yourself working hard toward goals that were never yours to begin with.

Final Thought

The most dangerous part of gig work isn’t the wear and tear, the algorithm, or the unstable pay. It’s forgetting why you’re here in the first place.

Before you chase another metric, stop and ask: Whose goal is this?

And if it’s not yours, do you know what to do?