Which Life Goals Should I Set?

Introduction: What are some common life goals?

One of the most popular topics when it comes to goal setting is life goals. What are some common life goals that people set for themselves? Well, there is no one answer to that question because everyone’s life is different and everyone has different aspirations. However, there are a few goals that seem to be pretty common among people. Some of the most popular life goals include becoming successful in one’s career, becoming financially secure, achieving a good level of health and fitness, traveling the world, and spending time with family and friends.

How do I know which life goals are best for me?

There is no one right answer to the question of what life goals are best for you. However, there are a few things you can do to help you figure out which ones are right for you. First, think about the things that make you happy. What activities do you enjoy doing? What kind of work do you find fulfilling? Next, think about your values and what’s important to you. Are you someone who cares about helping others? Do you believe in creating a better world for future generations? Or maybe your priority is making sure you have a lot of fun and enjoying life as much as possible. Once you know what’s important to you, start thinking about how your life goals align with those values. Finally, talk to people who know and respect you about your goals. They may be able to give you some valuable insights that you hadn’t considered.

What if I don’t know what my life goals should be?

Are you feeling lost and don’t know what your life goals should be? You’re not alone! Many people feel this way, and it’s perfectly natural. The good news is that there are steps you can take to figure out your life goals and start working towards them. Here are a few tips:

1. Start by figuring out what’s important to you. What makes you happy? What do you care about most? Write down a list of things that are important to you, both big and small.
2. Next, think about what you want to achieve in your life. What do you want to accomplish? What are your dreams and aspirations? Again, write them down!
3. Now it’s time to merge the two lists together. Look at the items on your list and see if any of them overlap or go hand in hand.

So, now we understand the power of having a mission and goals, as well as how to structure our goals so that they’re effective, motivating, measurable, and well, SMART. But what goals should we set? Anyways? After all, we have our big, lofty, lifelong mission that we wish to aspire to. But how exactly do we break that down into manageable baby steps and goals? And more importantly, how do we maintain balance by not focusing too many goals on one area of our lives?

The wheel of life

You may remember the Wheel of Life methodology that we presented earlier on in here, to refresh your memory. We talked about dividing your life into eight sections, and then graphing out your level of satisfaction for each of those wedges of the pie. If you liked the wheel of life before, you’re going to really love how it influences the process of creating goals.

That’s because by definition, if we are dissatisfied with a part of our lives, it must need our focused attention. And what better way to focus attention around something than by setting a dedicated goal.

In practice, this means that the goals we set, and their qualities should be determined by the wheel of life.

Why do you need a smaller wheel?

As we explained earlier, it’s undoubtedly better to have a smaller, rounder wheel than it is to have a larger lopsided wheel or a Pac Man wheel, with one area getting almost no attention. For this reason, we can set our goals in direct proportion to the areas of our lives that need work, and avoid setting too many, if any, goals for the areas in our lives where we are already satisfied.

This prevents us from doing what so many people before us have done. For example, it prevents us from the all-too-common story of burying ourselves into our already satisfying and successful careers, because we’re unhappy with our familial or social relationships.

It also prevents us from less common types of imbalances that you can imagine, for example, trying to use our spiritual lives to fill a hole left by our ailing health, or focusing too much attention on fun and adventure. To try and avoid a less than ideal financial situation, you get the idea. One way that I like to prioritize my goal setting into the right wedges is by giving myself a budget.

My idea on how to set your wheel of life:

For any given time period, I allow myself to have say 20 goals, then what I’ll do is count up the amount of white space left on my wheel of life. On any given day, there may be as many as 15, or 20 empty spots in various areas of my wheel of life. Now, I divide the number of empty spots in each of the wedges by the total number of empty spots, to get a rough idea of how many of my 20 goals I can devote to that area.

If my career is a nine out of 10 on the wheel of life, well then, I allow myself to set a maximum of one career related goal for that time period. If, however, my spiritual life is at a four out of 10, I’ll allow myself to set three or four goals around improving my spiritual life. Depending on whether or not I can think of meaningful ways to move that piece of my life forward.

In the beginning, it’ll be difficult to figure out how to create individual goals for each portion of your wheel of life.

How, for example, can you set goals that will improve your romantic life by being completed? If you get frustrated or stumped, just ask yourself? What about that area of my life am I dissatisfied with or having to accept, generally, it will be a lack of something? For example, time spent on activities that characterize that aspect of your life. If that’s the case, you just set yourself a goal. Spend more time doing whatever it is that makes your heart sing in that category.

Examples of goals I’ve set include spending a minimum of 72 hours a month in nature, hosting a minimum of one dinner party a month, conducting a minimum of two Skype calls with friends from abroad per week, and even meeting a minimum number of potential mates in a given time period. As with everything in life, you’ll have to play with this for a while before you get it right. If you’re just starting out with goals, 20 goals are going to be completely overwhelming. And that is just fine. Start small experiment with a few focused goals in the wedge of your wheel of life that need the most attention and build your goal achieving muscles as time progresses.