Life is short and can pass us by if we’re not careful. That’s why setting and achieving your life goals is so so SO important.
So how exactly do you make goals? And how do you go about achieving them? I’ve created some simple steps on how to firstly set your goals and secondly, actually achieve them! My technique may be a little bit different than other ways, but it really works for me and I want to share it with you.
SETTING YOUR GOALS
Make 1-3 goals per year in each of the 5 categories below:
1 - HEALTH (Physical/Mental/Emotional/Spiritual)
2 - FINANCES (Savings/Get out of Debt/Purchase something/Sell something/Get a Raise)
3 - CAREER (Promotion/Changing Careers/Personal Targets/Changing Offices)
4 - RELATIONSHIPS (Friends/Family/Dating/Communication Skills)
5 - DREAMS (Hobbies/Traveling/Education/Conquering your Fears)
The reason why I created categories was because I never want to neglect one area in my life - I believe in having balance and if we focus too much on one aspect of our lives over the other (eg. money over health), we have the potential of completely abandoning that part of our lives that we should not do.
Once you’ve set your goals for the year, then it’s time to set out all of the steps to actually achieve them.
In order to set out the steps, go through each of the 5 portions (the 5 W’s) you used to set your goal and think of everything you need in order to obtain what you set out to do.
Some things to keep in mind when setting and achieving your goals:
OVERLAP - Some of these categories can overlap. For example if one of your goals is to get a raise, that can be part of both the career and money categories. I would just recommend putting that goal into one category and think of another goal for the other category. If you have the same goal for both categories, it defeats the purpose of having categories in the first place.
ANNUAL GOALS - I set my goals annually but that doesn’t mean all of my goals take exactly a year to achieve - I just set annual goals so I can see progress at a consistent and specific time each year of my life. Some things also take less than a year which is okay as well. If you have a goal that takes say 3 months to achieve, set another goal in the same category that you can focus on after you achieved that goal!
BE REALISTIC - It's also important to be realistic. You shouldn’t say your goal is to become an astronaut by the end of the year as it takes years of schooling to become one. Look at your goals objectively and don't aim too low or too high. Use your discretion and re-evaluate if necessary. It’s okay to re-evaluate! There are situations where maybe you have set a certain goal too high or too low, and when you have that realization, adjust it to make it something that is challenging but not too hard to realistically achieve.
DON’T BE DISCOURAGED - Remember that you won't always be able to achieve your goals due to unforeseen circumstances. Life happens and that is okay. You shouldn't feel discouraged when you can’t make a goal happen in the time-frame you originally thought you could. Life wouldn’t be life if unexpected events didn’t happen. The important thing is to just do everything you can within your control. When something unexpected happens, adapt to the situation, be positive and do the best that you can.
ENJOY THE JOURNEY - The process of setting and achieving your goal should be just as enjoyable as attaining your goal… yes that’s right - just as enjoyable. We should aim at being happy every day of our lives. Life is way too short not to enjoy our lives every day in whatever circumstances we are in. So even if you didn't accomplish what you set out to do on a particular day, it's okay - enjoy it! Be happy!
xx,
KD
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