Life goals. How much do you know about them? is this up-to-date knowledge? 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, within so thick jungle of content about goals, you can be lost and sometimes vulnerable. I have decided to gather the essence of the tools necessary to set and achieve goals successfully.
The upcoming New Year is a great 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 concerning goals.
Discover the Brutal Truth About Life Goals
Suppose that you have set some life goals and are as happy as a pig about them. However, life verifies quickly if your goals are set correctly and if you work on them properly. 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, something you do regularly for 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, 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 1 sweet per week as a lifebuoy in case you fail. of course, you intend to totally avoid sugar but if you fail by one sweet it will not be so disastrous as in the case of eating two or more ones.
3. Are You Pursuing Your Goals?
Many people are not aware that they pursue life goals that are not theirs. These goals are imposed by the system: 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 useful, you can indeed assess some risk of many illnesses but the same value is not relevant in the case of various body types. Someone more muscular will weigh more because of the fat but muscles.
Some people follow their parents' expectations in choosing a career, life partner or even the number of children, without asking their guts if this is what they want. So check each life goal for the upcoming year: is it mine? Listen to your intuition and feel your emotions.
4. Are You Pursuing Goals or Reaching Milestones?
These two terms can be confused easily. While everything tangible and properly 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 main goal.
Even short-term goals can have milestones: Look at projects and their sub-tasks. also, one long-term goal can have shorter milestones, so a period can also mark a milestone. Let the coming new year be a successful milestone for you.
5. Do You Know the Difference Between These Three Terms Concerning Goals?
You can often read or hear about setting, pursuing and achieving goals. You need to define,i.e. set a goal to know your starting point and deadline; your resources, challenges and the ways they will be overcome.
However, most people talk about goal achievement, i.e. completion, and gaining the result.
On the other hand, pursuing goals is less often used as it requires some effort, taking action, and chasing the goal somehow. people usually want quick results, without being tired. Nevertheless, there is no cake without making it.
Therefore, focus not only on the results you desire but also on uplifting all the efforts necessary for the achievement of your goals.
Most teachers of goal setting suggest that SMART is enough to set an achievable goal. It is true to some extent: goals have to be specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time-oriented.
Nevertheless, the SMART goal will not be achieved without the SWOT analysis. Your weaknesses and unexpected challenges may impede the progress or totally destroy the goal. But only SWOT is not enough either. Both SMART and SWOT are necessary.
7. Are Your Goals Friendly Or Adverse to Other Beings?
Apart from SMART, your goal has to be benevolent. You cannot harm other beings. it is not always possible in the current system e.g. something has to be destroyed to create different things. Just think of the destruction of rainforests or excessive fishing.
All goals that are not based on or respect for other begins, not only 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 make someone possible to learn the lesson, to make their karma. Thing of doing wrong and forgiveness for the misdeed.
8. Are Your Goals Holistic?
Your life will not be whole if you only focus on one or two aspects of it. I mean on your physical and mental ones. Many people forget about their soul, the spiritual dimension of life.
Moreover, each goal has a physical, mental and spiritual aspect. If you go to make money, it will help you be healthy but also share your resources with others, buy a meditation or a book, plus pay for a gym membership.
So one goal of earning e.g. a million dollars can meet the goals listed in the previous sentence.
9. Can You Balance Self-Care and Contribution to Other Beings?
Neither giving too much nor being stingy with your resources is appropriate. You need to keep a balance between giving and taking and between working on your growth and sharing your resources with others.
Therefore, look at your goals and check if there is a balance between self-care and contribution to other beings. Take each goal and think if you pursue it for your good or to help others. Ideally, your goals should meet both criteria: self-care and contribution.
10. What Is the Time of Your Goals?
Rome was not built in one day and the same applies to many goals. Hence, you can distinguish short-term, medium-term and long-term goals.
Short-term goals can be pursued within a year, medium-term around 3 - 5 years and long-term goals need work that lasts for more than five years, sometimes even more than twenty.
But even yearly goals are pursued within months and quarters so create milestones for each month and quarter during which you will work on a given goal. Moreover, weekly sub-goals are also helpful.
An example of a long-term goal: Suppose that you have bought 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 Goals Tangible or Intangible?
Tangibility is a must to set goals with deadlines. Being happy is not tangible but you can specify when it happens and how it manifests, plus add the frequency.
Therefore, when you specify your goals, always describe how you will measure their achievement, e.g. by size, time, speed, amount, and number. So in the case of happiness, you can specify it in this way:
For the next 30 days in June, every day, I will look into the mirror three times daily and smile for 2 minutes. Then I will feel happy.
By June 30th, at all times, I dwell on the high-vibrational emotions (e.g. joy) and transform any negativity into love, i.e. being kind to myself and others.
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In a Nutshell
Working with goals can be fun but under the condition, you do it right. Distinguish between various kinds of goals, the SMART and the SWOT, self-care and contribution to other beings, milestones and overarching goals. Good luck with setting, pursuing and achieving your goals. With lots of love and light,
Vicky
About
Vicky is an experienced holistic writer and coach who inspires, motivates, and encourages everyone to become the best version of themselves - physically, mentally, and spiritually.
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