Think about your life goals

There’s never a good time to sit down and think about what you want to accomplish. We have busy lives, and even when we’re not working, we might feel more like vegging in front of the TV or checking our feeds than thinking about the rest of our lives.

Do it today if you haven’t yet. It could take as little as 10 or 20 minutes, making all the difference in the world.

And it’s not that hard. You probably already have a good idea of what you want to do, but you may not have it written down. Or maybe you’ve done this exercise before, but you haven’t updated your goals for a while. Now’s the time to do it.

1. How to start? First, think about what you’d like people to say about you at your funeral. This comes from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — the habit called “Begin with the end in mind.” It’s also beneficial. Imagine you are at the end of your life, looking back. What would you like to have accomplished? What kind of person would you like to have been? Now here’s the key: start living your life so that you eventually get to that point.
2. Now that you’ve given that a little thought, jot down some ideas for life goals you’d like to achieve before you die. They can be in many areas, but here are a few to start with: professional, education, family, spiritual, travel, recreation, hobbies, community, charity. You can probably think of more, and you don’t need to have goals in all of these areas. Just some topics to get you started.
3. Refine your list, or expand it. After your initial brainstorm, you may want to trim it down. But you may also want to develop: sometimes it’s fun, and worthwhile, to dream big.
4. Now break it down. What should you accomplish in the next ten years for each of these goals? How about five years? How about two years? One year? And this month? Once you’ve planned out each goal for 10-year, 5-year, 2-year, 1-year, and 1-month periods, you’ve got a pretty solid plan.
5. Take action! I like to take my monthly goals and make a to-do list for this week. What can I do today to further my objectives? And if I can get just one thing done, I’ve done a lot to make those dreams a reality!

Take a step towards your dreams today by writing them down and making a plan.