With better goals, you can achieve so much more. In “Life-long goals give meaning and purpose,” I talked about the importance of life-long goals instead of New Year’s resolutions, which may be quickly discarded. Here’s more about goal-setting.
I encourage you to consider these six Life Areas when setting goals:
• Career/Work
• Health and Wellness
• Finances
• Family Relationships/Friendships
• Leisure and Social
• Personal/Spiritual Development
If you set goals in each of these areas, especially if some of those goals are long-term goals, you can build a happier, more satisfying retirement lifestyle. Personalized goals in each area also lead to a more balanced life throughout every season and stage of life you will encounter in your journey.
Don’t just set good goals. Keep them small and manageable and work to achieve them one step at a time. Mark Twain wrote “20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the things that you did do. So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
You may already know how to do this with SMART goals—those goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-sensitive. I encourage you to create your best goals by adding more. Choose goals that
• Make you grow
• Feed your passion
• Reflect your values
• Foster independence
• Build competence
• Create connectedness
• Give your life meaning
Put these in writing and keep them visible. Make a commitment to yourself and to others to accomplish your unique goals. In the process, make the best of your talents and skills.