Establishing Life Goals

[emily]

Life goals - two small words - how difficult can it be to set some?

Setting life goals is a process that should not be underestimated, for some people this comes more easily, for others this is a difficult thought process. [b]So what areas of thought, question can help to establish effective life goals?[/b]

[b]Understanding what is important to you[/b]

What are your personal values, work values.? Personal Values are things like qualities and virtues you deem important for example: integrity, honesty, achievement, where you prefer to spend your time and energy - family, hobbies, work, study, volunteer work. In summary your values are the rules/ideals by which you live your life.

Work Values these can be mores specific to the context of work - such as the type of team I would like to work in, who I want to work for, the type of work I want to do, how far I want to travel however, as many of us spend so much of our time at work it is important to consider how you want to spend the time you invest here as one segment of your overall life.

Taking time to reflect on what your values are and what is most important to you is a crucial activity forming the [b]basis of the goals [/b]you then set and the actions you then carry out to shape your destiny in alignment to what's important to you as an individual.

[b]Writing goals down - make your life goals visible[/b]


Various different studies have shown that when someone writes down their goals they are much more likely to achieve them. This is because they move from being thoughts and ideas floating around in our head to visible, tangible words on paper. The power of writing goals down cannot be underestimated. I stick my year goals on one wall in my office and the goals for that month in front of me so I glance to the left of my screen and I am reminded by 3 or 4 small steps that lead me to my goals. This I find motivational and a great reminder. Breaking my overall goals down also makes them achieveable.

[b]Evolving goals as you do[/b]

As you move through life, your experiences will provide you with updated frames of reference and therefore your goals may need to be tweaked and updated. Honour yourself and your goals and update them.

[b]Taking small steps[/b]

Take one small step towards a goal and you are on the journey - it's begun. Taking one step is exciting and fuels your desire to continue on the route you have started - no matter how small - take that first step and remember:"The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step"

Only you can determine what you want to look back at in your life and say you have experienced, done, lived - so invest time to create your pathway. Happy to respond to any posts to help you in the journey - it would be an honour.

Warm regards

Emily

[Diana]

Hi

I am looking at creating some life clear life goals. I read your post and have some further questions.

1. Are there any templates or structured questions I can answer of myself to tease out what really is important to me when establishing goals?

2. Should life goals be discussed and created with a partner for them to be successful?

Thanks ever so

Diana

[emily]

Hi there Diana

Many thanks for your post regarding life goals. Having just got back from hols i am delighted to be able to answer your questions. Taking these in turn:

1. Are there any questions or structured templates I can answer of myself to tease out what is most important to me when establishing life goals?

There are a few questions that can be useful to ask oneself when considering what your life goals are, these questions help to tease out what is most important to you:

- "When you look back at age 80, what do you want to say you have done, experienced in your life?"

- "What initially springs to mind when you ask yourself the question - What is most important in life to me?"

A framework that can be useful to apply is that of the 'life wheel' this is a means of plotting where you spend your time now in life and where you would like to spend it - by taking stock of where you invest your time and energies you can stand back and see whether this is really where you want to spend it enabling you to see the areas/opportunites for change/to do something differently. E-mail me separately Diana and I will send you the simple template for this.

Ultimately Diana, where your personal values and what is most important to you coincide with what you are choosing to do - your goals, you find that this tends to be a recipe for contentment and identifying goals that fit with the unique you. It is key to reflect on this topic when most relaxed as you will enable yourself to get clear, meaningful insights that are attuned to you.

2. Should life goals be established and discussed with a partner in order for them to be successful?

Firstly is is essential, I believe, to be clear about what is most important to you as a unique individual and gain clarity for yourself. Afer one has done this it is then useful to have the conversation with one's partner to understand this in more detail and see how these goals fit with your unit as a couple. If you do it the other way round ( E.g. discuss with partner first it can cause your own personal values/goals to be clouded). However, as ever, everyone is wonderfully, uniquely different so do what works for you.

Whilst writing may I recommend a book by Fiona Harrold "Being your own life coach" which has some great frameworks and ideas also.

Do let me know your thoughts - and any other people who wish to add any questions/frameworks that worked for them - hey add to the discussion

[pauldickinson]

I believe goals are needed to give our life purpose and clarity. Without goals I wouldn't get anything done! I totally agree with taking steps to move towards a life goal.

When setting goals I think its important to "start from the end". I need to know what I want to achieve before I work out how to achieve it, and from then on I can plan how to reach my goals.

I've recently wrote an article on my blog about how I set goals so that they are easier to achieve here. http://livewithoutwork.com/2009/04/how-to-set-goals