I would guess that most people do not have a clear set of goals or plan of action for their life. Is that you? I admit that I haven’t always had that or stuck with it when I did. I have read the facts though, and they state that people that write down their goals and stay focused on those goals accomplish more with their life and are generally happier people. Wow! That should be enough to encourage us to follow through with setting goals.
If you’ve never set goals for your life, what better time than the beginning of a new year. I’ve decided to do just that, will you join me?
Devote some time to think about what your dreams are, what makes you happy, what you want to accomplish in different areas of your life. Areas might be: spiritual, career, health, relationships, finances and retirement.
What do you want to accomplish in your professional life and by what date? It might mean going back to school or seeking a new career field altogether.
A goal stating you will lose 20 pounds and improve your health by 12/31/17 might be fitting for you; it certainly would be for me! Then it should be broken down into each step you will take to accomplish it and by what date.
We all should have retirement goals, but many of us didn’t really focus on that goal until late in life. If every 20-year-old determined a retirement goal for their finances and began taking steps to reach that goal, they would actually be able to retire comfortably when the time arrived!
Once you have written down your goals, then think about the steps you need to take to accomplish each goal. Break the steps down and give each one a date it should be completed by. Goals should be: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timebound (SMART).
Bad goal: I will increase my retirement savings.
Good goal: I will increase my retirement savings by $100 every month in 2017.
A step you might choose to take to help in increasing your savings might be: Every pay period I will take my lunch to work 9 days out of 10. (Allowing myself to eat lunch out 1 day per pay period.)
Once you have set your goals, review them on a regular basis (daily, weekly or monthly; whatever works best for you) and adjust them according to what is realistic for you. Don’t feel that you have failed if you need to tweak your original goal. Life changes and we change.
Reasons for setting goals:
- Written goals help us to stay focused on what we want to achieve.
- By staying focused we accomplish more.
- We are happier with our lives.
- Goals help us to stay motivated.
- Accomplishing our goals gives us great satisfaction.
Forms
I have included six forms to choose from to encourage you in setting your goals. To download the pdf just click on the name of the template under the picture.
People that set goals for their life accomplish more and are happier people! Check out these printables to get you started. #settinggoals #goals2017 Click To Tweet
At my husband and I’s stage of life the retirement years are right around the corner, and we have many things we need to accomplish to be ready. We talk about these things frequently, but we haven’t actually written them down as goals along with the steps we need to take. I plan on doing that now and pinning them on our bulletin board so they’ll stay visible to us. I also plan on setting a goal regarding getting healthier and losing a few pounds.
What are your dreams? I challenge you to take the time to give this some thought and then begin setting goals for your life.
I think we will both be pleasantly surprised with our results!
Thanks for reading today,
I will be sharing this post on the lovely link parties found on my “Where I Party” page.
It’s like a bucket list writ large and in more detail. Your idea of being more specific probably makes goals more realistic and attainable. Every time I open a fresh notebook for my daily journal, I list my goals and check them against the goals written in the journal I’ve just filled. They seem to stay the same–with little movement toward meeting them. Going to try your approach for some of them–like learning to speak Spanish and writing my “memoir” essays.
happy new resolutions and the steps it takes to get there.
Good luck! I’m going to be writing my goals down too and I’m counting on it helping me to stay more focused. Thank you for stopping by.
I’m working on my yearly goals now. I needed this inspiration. Thanks for sharing at the #ThisIsHowWeRoll Link Party .
Thank you for hosting a great link party!
Hi Teresa! I’ve always believed in setting goals that is just the person I am. I love writing them down and then working towards the end result. I love your diagrams and print off lists excellent for not just newbies to setting goals but people like me. Saw your post at Blogging Grandmothers Link Up. Have a great day! Sue from Sizzling Towards 60 & Beyond.
Thank you Sue. I think it causes you to take real ownership of your goals if you write them down and review them frequently. Thanks for stopping by!
You’re so right about the importance of breaking goals down into manageable and achievable steps – otherwise we get to the end of another year and find we’re no closer to our end point. Retirement readiness is a big one for me – but slowly we’re putting plans in place.
Retirement is what we are really focusing on too. I wish we had gotten serious about that goal earlier in life!
Awesome post & I love your printables!!
Thank you Lori!
I love your forms!!! Thank you. I know from person experience that I must write things down to really them into my brain and to follow through. It really works and your article is perfect to get someone started on the right foot. Thank you for linking up with us at #blogginggrandmothers. I have shared your post on my social media. 🙂 See you next week.
Thank you Clearissa and thank you for sharing the post on social media. See you next week!
I love to have a “to do” list that moves me closer to where I want to be, I like a schedule that keeps me on track and shows me where I have pockets of free time, I even love a content calendar that keeps me on track. But I rarely sit down and write out my goals. Grabbing these printables and going to set down and try to tie it all together. Thanks for sharing these, perhaps this will help me achieve each goal quicker and in a more direct manner.
I’m a lot like you in that I am great with my “to do” lists, but a bit lacking in writing down goals. I’m working on the goals, I feel it will be very beneficial and help me stay on target.
Thank you for sharing the forms for goals setting and planning. It does help to breakdown our life goals in more manageable steps and the forms are helpful for that.
Thank you for stopping by Yudit and checking out my forms!