Life Goals Cheat Sheet

"Setting goals is fun! It is about giving you exactly what you want in life"

Goals are a passion of mine. I love, love, love working with clients on setting goals and putting a structure in place for them to make improvements in life so they can get more in control of their life and importantly, their time and get rid of some stuff that is not doing them any good, to free up space for things that matter most to them but have been off the agenda for too long.

Now one of the strange things is that when you get right down to it, it can be hard to think of what you want!

When setting goals we need to look at all areas of life so we don't forget something important. For example, achieving financial goals is not much benefit if your health and relationships suffer as a result. So ecology needs to be kept in mind - across all the areas of our life.

So I thought it might make things easier if I wrote out some sample goals. Now you can adapt these to suit your situation but these goals should prompt you in the areas of your own life where you can more easily imagine a parallel goal that would work for you.

Also worth thinking about in setting your goals is the time frame. Like saving, it is good to have goals for the year, and goals for the longer term, say 5 years, which you may reach by attaining smaller goals as steps along the way.

Some goals - those for material things - need to be really specific. On the other hand, goals around relationships require actions. You can't "make a better relationship" but you can implement actions, which result in better relationships. Keep these two kinds of goals - material and abstract - in mind.

If you are in a relationship - remember your goals, and your partner's goals should be complementary. If your goal is to be single that could be a problem for your partner! And remember to set another list of joint or family goals that you can work towards together.

Goals should be well formed - this checklist does not meet that criterion but they can be easily adapted when you come to writing your goals down.

In no particular order...

Goals to achieve in the next 12 months

Health

Assess your current state of health. You want to use this as a benchmark for future comparison

Stop drinking cola and sodas. Switch to making your own unsweetened iced tea instead of fizzy drinks

Start cutting down current alcohol intake

Improve your diet by cutting out junk food to get to a better weight.

Walk or cycle for one hour 3 days a week (specify days and diarise)

Learn to cook 3 great recipes for meatless main meals to serve regularly

Stop doing - (that activity that is hurting your body or peace of mind)


Financial Health

Write up a budget with all  current spending.
Review and adjust your budget to improve your cash position

Build up savings of $2000 in emergency savings account and maintain this at all times

Open a savings account for long term goals or bigger items and deposit $100 per pay

Reduce credit card debt to zero

Increase payments to mortgage by $100 per month above required payment

Learn about how money works in the economy, how interest rates work and compound interest


Relationships 

Set aside one night a week for a romantic dinner and a movie

Make arrangements for the kids for these nights

Schedule in your diary 2 long weekends during the year for you and your partner to go away alone.

Make one hour every week to spend time with just one child to play or do an activity together as an outing

Phone parents every Sunday night for half an hour minimum

Make a visit to your parents twice a year for no special reason

Make time to spend with brothers and sisters each 2x per year outside of family get-togethers

Contact your good friend that you have not seen for a long time and reconnect and maintain


Career

Develop the skills you need to be promoted to the next level

Work towards a pay rise

Find a better job

Ensure that you apply yourself to your work every day - seek assistance if you are having problems with your work.

Seek training in areas that will improve your job opportunities

Find a mentor in your industry to help you develop your career


Start the part time business that you have been talking about for years. If it is complex, begin by making a plan of what is required and setting aside the resources that you will need and a deadline to begin.


Self education/ personal growth

Enrol for that course you wanted to do

Learn piano or guitar

Teach a class

Learn Italian

Start a kitchen garden and grow your own herbs and a few vegetables

Learn to cook

Learn about fashion style tips for your best look

Do a values inventory to understand your core values, motivators and beliefs

Get a coach - one on one coaching can be a real catalyst for personal development


Recreation and Indulgence

Take up a hobby or learn to do an activity - dance class, sailing, karate, swimming, ice skating, birdwatching, yoga, tai chi

Make a list of 5 books to read this year and read them

Schedule 2 long weekends away for the family

Plan and book a holiday during the year for the family

Set aside an hour per week just for you to spend doing nothing.


Contribution

Volunteer

Join a community group

Adopt a rescue dog

Choose a charity to support


Spirituality

Learn to meditate

Set aside 30 minutes twice  week to meditate

Keep a log of your meditations

Learn about Hinduism and Buddhism and other western religions

Read works from these religions


As you can see, even just choosing one goal from each of these areas would combine to have a dramatic effect on your life in the year to come.

Importantly, setting goals should be fun! After all, it is about giving you exactly what you want in life, instead of just getting what you get.

Related articles on Goals

Goal Checker - A Tool To Use

Beliefs and Goals

How To Set Goals You Can Reach

Focus Before Goals 

Steps To Creating An Achievable Outcome

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Another Four Years To Achieve A New Set Of Goals

So in 2012 we had another election result in the USA election. During the lead up to the voting there had been all kinds of postings on the internet from both sides of the  political divide complaining that the President had "disappointed me", "not done enough", "not done anything!", and more of that nature but less polite. 

With the election concluded we know that there is another period of four years to follow this last period of four years. So I thought to myself - is it true? Has the President not done much in the past four years? What has he done?  This is what I found in 2012. According to Washington Monthly, here are a few:

• Passed Health Care Reform
• Pushed Broadband Coverage
• Expanded Health Coverage for Children 
• Passed Wall Street Reform
• Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
• Reversed Bush Torture Policies
• Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, 
• Expanded Pell Grant Spending
•  Increased Support for Veterans
•  Passed Credit Card Reforms: 
• Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco
• Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill
• Created Recovery.gov
• Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide 
• Expanded Stem Cell Research

You can find the complete list here 

To me, that looks like a fair bit to have accomplished. In any circumstances. And yet I am more interested in your results.

So What Does The Average Person Accomplish In Four Years?

And it got me to wondering. It's easy to be critical of others in the public eye. Just point and complain, and some do that without even checking out what has been done.  Certainly, I have not achieved anything of such importance in the same 4 year period.  I had not brought in a big public policy, or implemented some social justice program. Nothing like it. 

I wonder for those who are reporting being disappointed, what their own report card on the past four years would read like. 

We are quick to make judgments about others without relating that back to our own performance. What would be 'enough' for the President to achieve in a term. What measure are we holding ourselves to when we look at life in 4 year intervals?

Four years is a good chunk of time. It is enough time to do a great many things. Have you accomplished all that you set out to achieve during the past 4 years?  Did you start with some goals to achieve, because many didn't even get that far. 

What Will Achievement Of Your Goals Mean To You?

Are you happy with what you achieved during this last 4 years?  What stands out for you during this time?

What about the next four years... will you set out to achieve something specific that you'll commit to do in the next four years?

"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. 

And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." - Jim Rohn

While the President started a new period during which he will be closely watched and his achievements monitored and reported, and any failings reported even more widely,  perhaps it is a good time for us to set out some performance standards that we want to meet in the next four years too.

Setting Goals 

I like to look at goals with clients for the next 12 months and for a 5 year span. A 4 year span would do well too and if we segment these four year intervals to coincide with elections, that could be a good way to piggy-back our own goals so that we can do our own audit of progress while we compare that with that our governments have achieved over the same period. That makes some kind of sense as it is a built-in measure of time.

Politicians come and go. What's critically important to us all - is what we do about the things over which we have control. That's our life. We are the President of that. Make it a job we can be proud of having done well.

Action

Review the past 4 years and honestly report on your performance.
Take some time out and commit to some goals that you will reach in the next 4 years. 

What will you be able to say, in four years time, that you achieved in this term? 

Edited: This post updated in November 2013

Related posts
How to set goals you can reach
More on Goals 


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