Life goals. How much do you know about them? Is this up-to-date knowledge? How well are you prepared for the New Year? Check the truth now.
There are hundreds of websites and books about goals. Most people who are conscious or practise self-development are familiar with setting and pursuing goals.
However, you can be lost and sometimes vulnerable within a thick jungle of content about goals. I have decided to gather the essence of the tools necessary to set and achieve goals successfully.
The upcoming New Year is an excellent opportunity to practise setting and pursuing your goals. You will have the new 52 weeks, 12 months and over 360 days to practise. There will be three articles concerning goals. First, let’s make clear some terms relating to goals.
Discover the Brutal Truth About Life Goals
Suppose you have set some life goals and are as happy as a pig about them. However, life quickly verifies whether your goals are set correctly and if you are working on them appropriately. Just Question One will give you an idea of what I mean here:
1. Is It a Goal or a Resolution?
Goals represent the final tangible results, e.g. the weight of 80 kilos, one million dollars in your bank account or being able to do a hundred squats in one go.
On the other hand, resolutions describe the process you do regularly over a given period. For example, doing a hundred squats per day, every day. To resolve a goal, you need to make it tangible, e.g. a hundred squats on Mondays in November.
2. Is it a Main Goal or a Lifebuoy Goal?
People usually have an all-or-nothing attitude. Either the goal is fully achieved, or there is a failure. But what if you introduced a lifebuoy goal or a minimum plan? Then, you will not be frustrated and discouraged just because of a minor failure to achieve your life goal.
Examples: Instead of radical elimination of sugar as a resolution for the New Year, allow one sweet per week as a lifebuoy in case you fail. Of course, you intend to avoid sugar, but if you fail by one sweet, it will not be as disastrous as eating two or more.
3. Are You Pursuing Your Goals?
Many middle-aged women are unaware that they pursue life goals that are not theirs. The system imposes these goals: society, culture, family, science, and medicine. You are taught how to eat. Moreover, there are contradictory theories about what and how to eat, serving various lobbies (e.g. is fat healthy or carbohydrates?)
Example: Body Mass Index. It is practical, as it allows for assessing certain risks of various illnesses; however, the exact value is irrelevant in cases of different body types. Someone who is more muscular will weigh more due to the presence of muscle, not fat.
Some people follow their parents’ expectations when choosing a career, life partner, or even the number of children without asking themselves if this is what they truly want. So, check each life goal for the upcoming year: is it truly mine? Listen to your intuition and feel your emotions.
4. Are You Pursuing Goals or Reaching Milestones?
These two terms can be easily confused. While everything tangible and correctly set can be a goal, not all of them are milestones. We usually use the second term for naming sub-goals, the necessary steps to achieve the primary goal.
Even short-term goals can have milestones, as seen in projects and their subtasks. Additionally, a single long-term goal can have shorter milestones, allowing a period also to mark a significant achievement. Let the coming new year be a successful milestone for you.
5. Which One Is Necessary: the SMART or the SWOT?
Most goal-setting teachers suggest that SMART is sufficient to set an achievable goal. This is true to some extent: goals must be specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic, and time-oriented.
Nevertheless, the SMART goal will not be achieved without a SWOT analysis. Your weaknesses and unexpected challenges may impede progress or undermine the goal. Relying solely on SWOT is also insufficient. Both SMART and SWOT are necessary.
6. Are Your Goals Friendly Or Adverse to Other Beings?
Apart from SMART, your life goals must be benevolent. You cannot harm other beings. However, it is not always possible in the current system, as something must be destroyed to create new things. Consider, for example, the destruction of rainforests or excessive fishing.
All goals not based on respect for others, not just the human race, are harmful and devastating in the long run. Therefore, while setting and pursuing your goals, beware of their adverse effects.
However, you also need to know that everything has a purpose in the spiritual world. Sometimes, malevolent goals are necessary to teach someone a lesson, to fulfil their karma. This includes the consequences of wrongdoing and the forgiveness that follows.
7. Are Your Life Goals Holistic?
Focusing solely on one or two aspects, whether physical or mental, will not make your life whole. Many people forget about their soul, the spiritual dimension of life.
Moreover, each goal has a physical, mental, and spiritual aspect. Pursuing financial gain can help you maintain your health, share your resources with others, purchase a meditation or a book, and afford a gym membership.
Therefore, one goal of earning a million dollars, for example, can help meet the goals listed in the previous sentence.
8. Can You Balance Self-Care and Contribution to Other Beings?
Neither giving too much nor being stingy with your resources is appropriate. It would be beneficial to strike a balance between giving and taking, focusing on your growth, and sharing your resources with others.
Therefore, examine your goals and assess whether there is a balance between self-care and contributing to others. Consider each goal and whether you pursue it for your own good or to help others. Ideally, your goals should meet both criteria.
9. What Is the Time of Your Life Goals?
Rome was not built in a day; the same applies to many goals. Hence, you can distinguish between short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals.
Short-term goals can be pursued within a year, medium-term goals around 3–5 years, and long-term goals require work lasting more than five years, sometimes even more than twenty.
However, even yearly goals are often pursued within months and quarters, so create milestones for each month and quarter during which you will work on a specific goal. Setting weekly sub-goals is also helpful.
An example of a long-term goal: Suppose you buy a house and have to pay the mortgage for 20 years. Your goal can be: On the date 20 years from now, I am the owner of this house, fully paid off.
11. Are Your Life Goals Tangible or Intangible?
Tangibility is essential when setting goals with deadlines. Being happy is not tangible, but you can specify when it occurs and how it manifests, along with its frequency.
Therefore, when specifying your goals, always describe how you measure their achievement, e.g., by size, time, speed, amount, or number. So, in the case of happiness, you can specify it in this way:
- For the next 30 days in June, I will look into the mirror thrice daily and smile for 2 minutes. Then I will feel happy.
- By June 30th, I will always dwell on high-vibrational emotions (e.g., joy) and transform any negativity into love, i.e., being kind to myself and others.
In a Nutshell
Working with goals can be fun, but only under the right conditions. Distinguish between various kinds of goals, including SMART and SWOT, as well as self-care and contribution to others, milestones, and overarching goals. Good luck with setting, pursuing and achieving your goals. With lots of love and light,
Victoria Herocten
