SETTING PERSONAL GOALS

If you are like me, then the beginning of a new year, births with it the need to evaluate and re-evaluate goals and strategies that work(and those that didn’t) to achieve them. 2020 has marked the beginning of a new year and decade, and you definitely want to kick it off on a high note. This will kickstart you into a more purposeful and fulfilling year.

Whether its losing weight, creating a morning routine, aligning yourself spiritually, observing a healthy diet, or even achieving financial goals, you need a working strategy that will ensure the success of your year.

What are the personal goals?

It is essential to understand first, what personal goals are, to be able to work on them realistically. Personal goals are set targets that help you improve individually on a wholistic level. They may include:

• Work and career
• Love and relationships
• Fun and recreation
• Money and finance
• Growth and spirituality
• Family and friendship
• Health and well-being
• Living space

Why set personal goals?

It is easy to say to yourself what you want to achieve by the end of the year. However, when you set goals down in writing, you are able to visualize and almost bring to life the picture-perfect image in your mind. This makes a really huge difference in the entire journey of achieving your desires within the course of the year. Other reasons include;

• Setting personal goals forces you to take responsibility for that which you are embarking on.
• It also gets you a clear road map to the direction you want to take as you progress through the year. You are able to break down your goals into manageable steps that you can clearly work with.
• It helps you celebrate small wins. Breaking down your goals to manageable steps allows you to track your progress and take note of instances where you have achieved set targets no matter how small and celebrate them.

How to set personal goals

Setting personal goals is easier said than done. It is an activity that needs time. It would be best if you took some time to make some introspection into your life and figure out what you want to do differently with your life to get to where you aspire to reach. Here are some exercises to set you on the right path of setting achievable personal goals:

Set a theme for the year

What do you want your year to be mostly about? What kind of year do you want to have? Is there a value you want to live by throughout the year? This could be a word, or a sentence that you can relate to that will encompass all that you wish to achieve.

Write down your purpose statement

Witing down a purpose statement helps you recognize who you are and what you want your life to represent or what you want out of life. Writing down your purpose statement is not an easy task. However, there are some tips and tricks that could help you break down this daunting task.

1. List all the things you don’t want in your life. They could be things that cause you discontent like fear, anxiety, stress, or procrastination.
2. Circle four to six of the items you REALLY do not want in your life. Pick the ones that bring out the most emotions out of them.
3. List all the things that you want in your life. These should not be material things like money or worldly possessions; rather, things that bring you happiness, cause you to feel fulfilled, motivated, or energized.
4. Again, circle four to six of the items you REALLY want in your life. Pick those that bring out the most emotions out of them.
5. Rank each of those things you want in your life, and besides them, write down the potential obstacles that are causing you not to have those items.
6. According to my grand Plan 2020 Workbook, check out the listed values that can help you in goal setting. Circle the values that are most important to you.
7. Take the top six values and rank them in order of importance to you
8. List down your talents, natural gifts, or skills that you are good at. Do you have a superpower? List it down!
9. Review all you have written down. By this step, you have discovered what you want and what you don’t want in your life, what is of utmost value to you, and who you are. This should help you come up with a personal statement. It should ideally be no more than four sentences.

These simple steps will set you on the right path to setting more attainable and realistic goals.

Creating a Balanced Life

Setting goals help in achieving a balanced life and a feeling of overall wellness once you are able to achieve them. However, how do you know which areas you need to work on more? Form the list on the examples of personal goals, and we can evaluate a known technique that will allow you to identify areas to be more assertive.

Draw out four lines as you would visualize a clock. Take each of the personal goals areas as the arms of a clock. Next, on each arm, mark out a scale from 1-10. Rank yourself on each of the areas you have listed. If you spend too much time and attention on it rank it 6 -10  if you do not spend enough time and attention on it rank it 0-4. Finally, connect all the dots you have marked on your “wheel,” and if it comes close to a complete circle, then your life is balanced. If not, you have areas you need to work on as a top priority. This exercise helps you in grouping those areas in your life that need more attention.

Setting personal goals is a time-consuming activity and takes a lot of effort, but the process of achieving them brings out the most gratifying and fulfilling feeling.