Goal Setting for the New Year
"Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there's no telling what will happen when you act upon them." - Jim Rohn
What are your goals for the new year? Does that question make you cringe? Do you associate that with all those “New Year’s Resolutions” that are forgotten by February? It doesn’t have to be that way.
We have a One Year Goal Setting Guide to make it easy for you to get started. Access it here. This guide will walk you through 4 steps:
Review the Past Year
Set Goals for the New Year
Create a Vision Board
Schedule Your Next Steps
Setting goals for the year can be easier if you have a big picture vision for your life. You also can break your long-term goal into smaller, achievable goals with shorter time frames. But what if you don’t really know what you want for your life?
One way to discover what you want in life is to try different writing prompts and exercises until you find something that works for you. Below is an exercise you may want to try.
10 Minute Exercise to Find Out What You Want in Life
I adapted this exercise from Vishen Lakhiani’s “Three Most Important Questions” described in his book The Code of the Extraordinary Mind: 10 Unconventional Laws to Redefine Your Life and Succeed on Your Own Terms.
On a piece of paper (turned to landscape orientation), make three columns – one each for EXPERIENCES, GROWTH, and CONTRIBUTION.
For each column, set a timer for 3 minutes and brainstorm what you desire. Assume no limits on time, money, or ability.
COLUMN ONE – EXPERIENCES
What are the experiences I desire? What do I want to DO and HAVE? Include things like relationships, adventures, feelings, travel, home, work, etc. Example: Spend a month in Peru.
COLUMN TWO – GROWTH
How do I need to grow to have these experiences? What do I need to LEARN? What kind of person do I need to BECOME? Include things like skills, personal growth programs, spiritual development, fitness, etc. Example: Learn to speak Spanish fluently.
COLUMN THREE – CONTRIBUTION
How will I use these experiences and this growth to contribute to the rest of the world? What can I CREATE and how can I SHARE it? Include ways to give back, create, donate, volunteer, etc. Example: volunteer as a translator for refugees in my community.
After this 10-minute brainstorm session, you will have something with which to start! You can always add new ideas to your columns as they come to you. Which items on your sheet are the most important to you? Which goals, if achieved, will have the greatest impact on your life? Pick out your top goals to work on for the new year. If you have a big goal that may take more than one year to accomplish, then break that goal down into smaller goals. Put the smaller goals on your list to work on for the new year.
Check out our One Year Goal Setting Guide and let us know how it goes.