Goal Setting: A Simple Method

There are many ways to set goals and no way is perfect. What matters most is doing it. Having a repeatable process is a good idea.

Also, people tend to struggle with creating and focusing on too many goals.

With those things in mind, here is a quick exercise to set and prioritize the RIGHT goals in your life.

Step 1:  

Make a list of different categories of areas in your life.  I like to list the different kinds of “wealth” that are possible in our lives.  For example:

Money 

Relationships

Spiritual Wellness

Physical Health

Mental Health

Career Satisfaction

Step 2: 

Brainstorm a few possible goals for the next 12 months in EACH of the different categories.

Step 3:

Choose only ONE goal for each of the categories.  The most important one.

Step 4:

Looking at the remaining goals, ask yourself, “If I could only accomplish THREE of these goals which would have the greatest impact on my life?”  Highlight those.

Step 5:

Do the same thought experiment but narrow it down to only ONE goal.  This would truly have the most impact on your life.

Step 6:

Create a plan for the top three goals.  Commit to the time, focus, and energy it would take to accomplish these top impactful things.  Don’t bother planning to achieve the other goals you highlighted.  Trust that accomplishing the THREE most impactful goals will have a greater impact than doing those other things.

If you accomplish one or more of these three goals before the end of the year, you have a brainstormed list of goals that you could focus on at that point if you feel you have the time, energy, and want to do so.

Step 7:

Prioritize the ONE goal in your planning.  Same concept.  If you could just accomplish that ONE thing, your life will be better.

You don’t need to wait until the beginning of the year to set goals.  Now is a perfect time.

Good luck to you!