Goals for All Areas of Life

Did you know you don’t have to wait until a new year starts to set goals for yourself? Here’s the thing: If something really matters to you and you’re ready to make a change right now, you don’t have to wait until the calendar says January 1. Start today. Let’s go!

But you can’t be out here setting “goals” that are vague and willy-nilly. If you’re ready to get serious and set goals that actually work—whether it’s the end of the year or the middle of July—you need to think about seven specific types of goals. You also need to think about some key qualities your goals should have.

So, let’s break down how to set goals and create real life-change. Now that’s what I’m talking about!

What Are Goals?

If you look up goal in the dictionary, you’ll see something along the lines of “a result or achievement that calls for some effort on your part.”

Well, duh. But if we’re being honest, setting goals is easy. It’s the effort of making them happen that we get most hung up on. And sometimes we don’t even know what that effort will look like because the goal itself lacks clarity.

So, how do you get clear goals that work? They have to be:

Specific. If you set a goal to get healthy, you won’t do it. If your goal is simply to read more, you won’t read more. You’ve got to be specific. You have to pick the specific areas of health you want to work on, like losing weight. Or you can decide to read a specific genre of books. Creating goals that are detailed and specific paints a more precise picture in our brains.
Measurable. If you set a vague goal that can’t be measured (like eating out less), you won’t know if you’re on the right track. And that means you can fall right off the wagon without realizing it. By making goals measurable, you’ll know whether you’ve accomplished them. This is when you name how many pounds you’ll lose, say 25. Or when you decide you’ll read 10 pages a day. You can step on the scale to track weight or look at where your bookmark has moved in that book. These are measurable!
Under a time limit. You’ll never have any motivation to work toward your goals without a hard time limit. You also probably don’t want to spend three years trying to drop 25 pounds or finally starting that podcast. Set a time limit and get the clock ticking. Deadlines motivate.
Yours. If your only motivation for going on a diet is “my spouse wants me to,” you won’t stick to it. The same goes for every type of goal—it’s got to be yours, not someone else’s. That why needs to be rooted in your heart and soul.
In writing. There’s something really powerful about getting out a pen or pencil and writing your goals down. Listen, the Bible says in Habakkuk 2:2 (NKJV), “Write the vision and make it plain.” So do that!
Shared with others. I think a lot of times we hide our goals because we think, What if I fail? Well, what if you don’t? Accountability and visibility might be just what you need to succeed. Listen, I’m not saying you have to post it on social media, but I am saying life-change rarely happens alone on an island.

The Goal-Setting Process

Time-out! Before we talk about the types of goals you need to set, here are three things to think about during the goal-setting process itself.

Think Short Term and Long Term

Building wealth to become a millionaire is an awesome goal, but that’ll take decades for most folks. If long-term goals like that are your only focus, it’ll be hard to stay the course. You need some smaller goals that clearly lead up to the big kahuna along the way.

Along the same lines, growing in your career and earning a raise within the next year is a great goal to set, but setting only short-term goals like that will keep you from dreaming big and planning for an awesome future five to 10 years down the road.

That’s why it’s important to think about short-term and long-term goals during the goal-setting process. You want to give yourself small milestones you can achieve and feel good about, but you also need to dream of the big picture. Think of it like decorating a house: Even though you renovate one room at a time, you need the overall vision to create a whole look.

Identify the Steps to Get There

In addition to the six qualities I talked about earlier, the goals you set need to be achievable. That means you might need to rethink your goals to walk on the moon and have dinner with Elon Musk. (Not trying to kill your dreams, but also, don’t play yourself.).

A good way to make sure your goals are achievable is to identify the steps it’ll take to get there. Sit down, grab a pen, and write out a plan that’ll take you from point A to point B. Ask yourself what it’s going to take to reach your goals.

Is your goal to lose weight? If so, you’ll need to figure out a diet and exercise plan on the front end to be successful. Do you want to become president of the United States? Hey, that’s a goal 46 people have reached. But you’ll need a plan: How will you get into public office, create a personal brand, and rise through the political ranks?

See what I mean? When you lay your goals out like that, it turns something big into multiple bite-size steps. And you need that because there’s only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.