This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Goals Series

Goals Series
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It’s already established, successful people set goals. In fact, it’s second nature to them. They learned to do it at an early age and perfected the process by the time they reach adulthood.  It is a constant part of who they are.  At some point, it becomes habitual because they don’t think about it, they just do it consciously and subconsciously. Thriving because of the goals they set is not uncommon, it’s second-nature.

Successful people are consummate goal setters

And if what they are doing works, then they shouldn’t change a thing. But for those of us who’ve dabbled with goal setting through the years, this post may be beneficial. Delve further into goal setting and how it can help to change your intentions to actual results. To actually achieve your objectives can be life changing. It shouldn’t surprise you to know you already set goals. What you most likely don’t realize, or are unaware of, is what type of goals you set. Stay tune for a future post on the type of goals we set.

When we wake up in the morning and plan our day, are we setting goals. What about when we decide to lose ten pounds? Or to have children?  These scenarios represent different goals we set. It’s normal to not think about the essence of goals we set, when we’re setting them. However, a step towards setting effective goals is understanding and being aware of our goal and their classifications. Awareness helps to not just set realistic goals, but also achievable goals.

Familiarity with the goals we set has many benefits. Knowing contributes to the likelihood of success by making our objectives tangible and more reachable. The goals we set consciously are reachable because we focus on the reason for setting them and the expected outcome.

 Here are examples of goals we set to achieve what we want

Life-Based Goals

Creating life-based goals are key to living a life that is in harmony with your ideals. When you set goals that conforms to what your values, hopes and dreams are, you are on a path to creating the fundamentals needed for a balance life. You can easily see how time-based goals contribute to life-based goals. To clarify, your life-based goals lacks effectiveness if they don’t conform to a time-based design. Here are examples of goals that’s considered life-based.

Career Goals

For most of us, from the time we are old enough to realize it, we know we will not go through life aimlessly. In fact, at a young age, we aspire to be something, a doctor? A lawyer? For some, what we aspire to be and what we are actually doing is so fulfilling, it feels like a life calling. For others, it a process that starts by identifying a career that eventually leads to a calling. The above label says career goals because that’s where it starts for many. It’s through the inception of a career that we learn what we want to do. The aim however is finding that which we want to do, that leads to what we are doing. I know that was a mouth full!

Financial Goals

Money goals are something we all set, because money is a sustaining factor of life. We all need it, want it, and know we can’t live without it. Even the most frugal individuals need a measure of money.

Because it is a basic need, we strategize how to spend the money we have or earn. Read this post by The Penny Hoarderon how to make your money work for you. If we make enough to pay our living expenses and still have a surplus, we usually set financial goals to save and invest with retirement in mind. If we don’t make enough to have extra, then we implement goals to make more, whether with an additional job, moonlighting, however we can supplement what we have.

Yes, with financial goals, the ordinary steps are usually budgeting, saving, and paying off debts. Even with finances, you still apply the short-term to long-term concept. In fact, it’s what most people strive for, to make enough money to take care of short-term needs, so they can set mid-term goals leading to long-term objectives.

Essential Goals

These type of goals comprise of goals we set for the basics of life. The basic can range from waking up at a certain time, to volunteering, or taking a vacation. Essential goals are anchored by the other life-based goals we set and how successful we are at achieving them. For instance, if your career is questionable, then your finances may not be what you want it to be. If both of the above goals are off, then they directly affect the essential goals. Let use taking a vacation as an example. It’s an essential goal because it contributes to the quality of your life. If your finances are within your expectation, you can take that vacation. If it’s not, then you can’t.

 

Even though we set goals daily, it’s rarely we set conscious goals. Setting conscious goals is the first step to turn invisible goals into visible ones. When we set conscious goals we deliver decisive messages to ourselves, one of which is a belief in ourselves and what we can accomplish.

Think of the words of Earl Nightingale when he says: “ People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.” Start today to create conscious goals that will guide you toward accomplishing your long-term objectives.

 

How do you set goals? Share with our community.

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