Setting Goals for Your Future

Many of us simply live our lives by "chance" – waiting for things to happen to us, then we move on from that place. Instead of leaving our lives up to chance, goals give us greater control, can help us become more efficient and give us a feeling of confidence. Goals can motivate us to move forward and show us where forward is.

Do you have specific goals for your life?

Do you have a vision for what you want to be doing next year?

In the next five years? In the next 10 years?

Develop a Vision

The first step in setting and achieving goals is to begin with a vision. Defining what personal and professional success means to you, what you want your life to be like, look like and feel like will help you develop goals to take to you that place.

Try this exercise:

Write a narrative of what you want your life to be like in five years time, yes five. What you would like to have accomplished, how you would like to have grown and developed for yourself, your family, your career, your home and your community. The first key with writing this narrative is that you are writing it as if it is five years from now already. Your sentences, then, will all begin with "I am…" and "I have…" instead of "I will". The second key is to write this vision in such a way that it evokes a strong visual – so much so that you can actually "feel" the excitement and joy of the experiences you have had and are having.

Begin to Achieve Your Vision

In the previous exercise you were asked to write your "five year vision". When you know where you want to be in five years, it helps each of your one-year goals become more focused and clear. By breaking your goals down to more focused steps, your large future goals become more attainable and less overwhelming. As you complete each of your smaller goals, they build upon each other, bringing you closer and closer to your ultimate goal.

Try this exercise:

Taking your vision, begin to write all of the large goals you see (ex: move, start a business, etc). Next, working your way backward from the ultimate goal you want to achieve, take these large goals and break each down into smaller, more specific goals (ex. research places to live, business that I would like to start) – and then into even smaller goals (ex. decide what I want in a community, what my passions are).

Staying motivated and on track

Often, people have so many goals they would like to achieve, that it becomes overwhelming. That overwhelm can either lead to overload of activity or no activity at all – both of which can lead to stress. The secrets, therefore, to staying motivated and on track with your goals include:

1. Narrowing your goals

Are your goals "wants" or "shoulds"? (hint: you must truly want to achieve your goals). (Example: I should go back to school vs. I want to go back to school because…)

Which are most important to you? Which will be most challenging?

How does each relate to your vision for your future?

Which of your goals relate to each other? (ex., running a marathon, mastering golf, and learning tennis – could all relate to getting fit, physically challenging yourself…).

Which of these do you have the most control over achieving? Remember, a goal that is directly dependent upon another person is not a goal, it is a wish. (ex. wish: I want my partner to be more attentive, I want to be hired by ABC company vs. goal: I will ask my partner for what I need, I will be prepared for my interview with ABC company by clearly knowing what I am offering and how I can prove that to them).

2. Following the rules

They must be possible to achieve (even if it is a stretch for you to believe it now).

You must have a realistic timeframe in which to achieve them (remember to give yourself the space, yet challenge).

Each goal must be clearly defined and specific (if you don’t clearly know what you are hoping to achieve, then how will you know when you have achieved it)?

3. Creating a plan of action in writing (increases the success rate to 50%)

List all of your narrowed down, manageable, specific goals and the steps you will take to achieve them

4. Saying them out loud to others (increases the success rate to 65%)

Share your goals with others in your circle of influence, those you feel are your motivators, people in your life you trust. When you share your goals with others you are making more of a commitment to them.

5. Creating accountability (raises the success rate to 95 %!)

Set deadlines for each goal.

Be accountable to someone, report your progress – someone who will support you in achieving these goals – friend, partner, colleague, life coach?