Give the Player Long-Term Goals

I think one of the greatest parts of Minecraft is getting to the End, because there are so many parts to it that connect contrasting parts of the game, giving it far more depth. This is what I mean:

First, you get materials to create a nether portal to find a fortress and slay a Blaze. You collect Ender Pearls to combine with Blaze Powder and find the Stronghold and scour it for the portal. You kill the dragon and finally you can explore the End for its loot. 

This process ties in a lot of mobs, locations, structures, and materials, making the journey to the End far more meaningful to the player than say: simply stumbling upon an Ocean Monument. I enjoyed seeing that sort of gameplay appear with Raids, Beacons, and Woodland Mansions, but certainly not to the same extent. A lot of newer content feels laid out right in front of the player, and seems to have only a single function, or even none at all, i.e. Polar Bears (which often are even forgotten). Mobs like Phantoms that serve two or more purposes in the game are great, but I still hope to see content that has more layers to it, or just more layers added to already existing content. 

Whether this includes biomes, structures, items, or even new mobs and bosses, what do you guys think? What could be done, or do you agree that anything should be done at all?