5 Examples of Life Goals to Motivate You to Set One Today
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Life goals are not what they used to be. We used to think more materialistic, more short-term. More temporary, more unhealthy, more foolish.
A life goal is not just another line you put in your diary. It is something you plan, something you work on, something you adapt to, something you sacrifice for. Something that is an absolute top priority for you.
Do you sometimes feel your life lacks purpose? You feel stuck? You feel you are losing the meaning? You get up, you go to work, you exchange pleasantries with strangers, you go home, you eat… And it all feels like you are on a track to nothing.
You probably need to sort out your goals. And maybe you need to come up with one that you prioritize above all else.
HOW TO SET UP DOABLE GOALS:
Don’t mistake life goals for dreams. Life goals should be doable. Don’t set yourself out for a failure. Plan well before you set your heart on any goal.
Identify
The first step is to identify what you want to change. What makes you miserable? Take a piece of paper and start writing. Is it the way you look? Maybe your weight? Is it your job? And how they always pass you over for promotions? Is it that you are always searching for a significant other but have not yet found your soulmate?
Be specific!
What do you really want to achieve? The more detailed your account, the better chance are giving yourself.
Be realistic!
Can you change whatever is bothering you? If you are worried you are getting old you are probably not getting younger any time soon. If you feel you are short, you are probably not getting taller. You should only think of the things you can change.
And finally, think in details!
What will do about it? Is it your absolute priority? Are you ready to sacrifice anything else, to give it all you’ve got?
Will you need any help? Will you need any money to achieve your goal? Is it realistic to think it is achievable? That you will not have any setbacks?
Specify
Draw a chart. Ideally, you should be able to come up with several smaller goals that contribute to your life goal. And, ideally, you should be able to tie the small goals to a number. Only then you can identify whether you have achieved them or not and what is your progress.
Let’s take one of the examples from this article. Say your new life goal is to take better care of your body. Your list should look like this:
- List for the next 365 days:
- Sleep 8 hours a day on average
- Have three wholesome meals a day, one cheat meal per week
- Exercise at least 5 times a week – three strength workouts and two cardio
- Get one massage every month
- Buy myself at least 4 pieces of new clothing a month
Sanity-check
Your sanity check should be asking yourself a lot of hard questions:
- Is reaching your goal relevant to the life you are leading today?
- Can you handle all of your goals together? Is it realistic to think you are both heading to create a family and become a successful careerwoman?
- Is it possible an issue will come up in the future where you will not be able to continue on your current plan?
- Do you need money, skills, partners you are not having currently?
- Do you have all resources? Or can you get them?
- Is it the best time for you to be planning for this? Is it better to do it at a later stage in your life?
Deadline
Make sure your plan is doable not just in resources, but in time as well. Deadlines can make you people get up from the couch and act. Give yourself a time-limit. Be realistic, but don’t let yourself slack.
Work in increments so you can reevaluate the different stages you want to go to. Being too strict with the deadline of your goal setting can have the reverse effect. Don’t give yourself hell.
Look for the balance. Maybe write some rules – do’s and don’ts.
Be flexible, but make sure you achieve what you promised to yourself.
ACHIEVE INNER PEACE
They say white is the new black and inner peace is the new success. In a busy, rushed, polluted world, it is becoming more and more important to take care of yourself.
It’s not just hippies anymore that practice self-love. Take care of you, and you will be admired for that by others.
Show yourself the love and the kindness you used to seek from others. Spend time and money on you. You deserve it.
How do you achieve inner peace? Below are some helpful ideas – take them as directions to think about, but obviously, the list is not exclusive.
Teach yourself to rest
Rest often and be unapologetic about it. Be conscious about always having a time and a place for yourself – to relax or even take a nap. Keep yourself well-rested and your body and mind will repay you. Make sure you have several minutes every day to do nothing, think of nothing. Without purpose. Teach yourself that you owe it to yourself.
A vacation now and then won’t cut it. You need some passive rest. Find time to smell the roses, they call it. Look at the clouds. Engage in some childish activity you haven’t done in years. Destress.
Teach yourself to meditate
It is becoming more and more popular to go out of the physical world with its needs and consumerism, and to take care of your spiritual wellbeing. Meditation has been proven to offer relief from anxiety and stress, to relieve depression, to increase body satisfaction and to improve cognition.
Teach yourself to stop multitasking:
Losing distractions is key to sanity. Multitasking does not work. Our brains, our memory and our cognition are not wired to do multiple things at once.
Learn to only do one thing at a time. Be concentrated. Put down the remote control. Switch off your music while you work. Enjoy the moment while you have it. Don’t steal time away when you don’t.
Work on your self-esteem:
Here are some steps you can take, according to PhychologyToday:
- Be conscious. You will not be able to work on your flaws if you don’t recognize them.
- Manage the story you’ve created about yourself. Your self-perceptions, and your self-image. You tell the story.
- Stop comparing yourself to others and accept yourself for who you are.
- Do to others as you would have them do to you.
- By holding grudges and sticking to bitterness and resentment, you are only hurting yourself, you are perpetuating the deeds of those who hurt you. Practice forgiveness.
- You are not a victim of your circumstances. Think of yourself as a hero.
Teach yourself to be persistent:
Achieving inner peace will not happen over the course of a day. Teaching yourself to be peaceful is a process. Remember when you were studying Spanish? You did not become fluent immediately, right?
It is a skill like any other. Forgive yourself if you overstep the line. You are still allowed to be angry, or worried or irritated from time to time.
As Ellen DeGeneres says:
‘I get those fleeting, beautiful moments of inner peace and stillness – and then the other 23 hours and 45 minutes of the day, I’m a human trying to make it through in this world.’
Be patient. You will get there.
YOUR BODY AS A TEMPLE
Your body is the temple where your spirit lives, where your soul resides. It is the vessel that brought your soul into this world. And the better you care for it, the longer and the better you can enjoy this life.
Here is how you can go about it:
Get enough sleep
Scientists sometimes joke that sleep doesn’t make a lot of sense. It is indeed a little bit strange how the relentless Evolution tolerated mammals going near comatose for up to a half of their day!
Sleep does have an important purpose though. During helps neurons are being repaired from any damage inflicted during the day. For humans, sleep is proven to have a crucial effect on concentrating. It contributes to the immune system – napping the right amount of hours may keep all sorts of disease at bay – from the common cold to anything more serious.
As healthy as it is, working on a better sleeping routine can be a painful transition. First, have a check of your work habits. Not all of us work 9:00 and 5:00 jobs. Try and make a sensible schedule for your sleep. Your significant other must, of course, be on board with your plan.
Continue by creating a relaxing environment out of your bedroom. Remove all technology – your TV, your laptop, and other electronics must go. Instead, add some extra pillows, and maybe a sound machine.
To prepare for your sleep, create a routine. Forget about caffeine, alcohol, or other stimulating substances before bed. Take a snack instead. Something rich in carbs or tryptophan would do – those foods help calm the brain.
Eat the right food
Eating right is trendy. And this trend is partially affected by the type of unhealthy food that is on the market. Unlike the market in the past, if you are not conscious of your food today, you are effectively poisoning yourself.
Remember, you eat to live. You don’t live to eat. Food is a source of energy. Use food to give your body the nourishment it needs. It will take adjusting to. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. But if you adopt this philosophy you will find yourself to be happier, healthier, and to look better, too.
Enjoy the food you eat, take it slow. Eat fresh produce and the taste, textures and smell will always be there – you will awaken your body for new sensation.
Exercise
Try to get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week. That could include as brisk walking, swimming and mowing the lawn. Make it vigorous aerobic activity and you can cut that time by half. Vigorous aerobic activity would be running and dancing.
Do strength training exercises for various muscle groups two to three times a week. That could be hitting the gym and going for the weight machines, using your own body weight, or other sports such as rock climbing.
Pamper yourself
Don’t you want to become one of those people that is always relaxed and happy?
According to the Time magazine online, regular massages have real health benefits (including mental health benefits):
‘One Australian study found that a 10-minute muscle massage after a workout could reduce soreness by 30%. A separate review study on massage found that levels of the stress hormone cortisol dropped 31% following a rubdown, while levels of feel-good hormones like dopamine and serotonin increased roughly 30%.’
Dress yourself
Dress to impress! If you put your body first, you will feel great and look great! Show it off. You can buy some nice clothes, get a new haircut, and why not some color?
Dressing is a means of communication. Workers at McDonald’s have uniforms to communicate they belong. At a wedding, the bride would usually wear white to communicate she loves the tradition of marriage. In a business meeting people will be wearing business suits to communicate their respect to the other side.
Use your body to communicate you love yourself. Your body is your home. Decorate it with emotion and devotion. Be that person who is known for looking well, dressing well and being conscious of their body.
FAMILY GOALS
If you have always been the person that wanted a relationship, a big family and a house full of kids, and be happy and have good relationship with your family members… the key is planning.
Start early.
Talk about marriage to your SO
It can be a tough task to choose the best time to bring up marriage to your significant other. You need to consider the age, the fertility abilities, and the mutual needs of the of both partners.
First, you need to know you are being exclusive. Second, if you are above the age of 30, it is pretty safe to assume your significant other is already thinking about the issue.
Science tells us that the best moment to get married, according to statistics, is the window between the ages of 28 and 32.
If you don’t feel completely safe at least raising the question (not as in proposing) it is already maybe a bad sign.
Find a safe moment to start the conversation. Don’t just blurt it at out at the dinner table. If you are already talking about someone else’s relationship going there, that could be a good moment.
Honesty and openness are your best strategy. Be honest about what you want. Do not leave anything left to interpretation.
When you start talking about your family, think about compatibility. Discuss anything from money, careers, religion, and lifestyle choices. What you think about kids, how you imagine yourself in 10 or 20 or 30 years… and do you have common life goals.
The idea of this exercise is to achieve ultimate transparency. You alone can feel if it is the right moment and the right person. And sometimes your gut is .. not telling you the truth. And that happens, and that is okay. As long as you know what you are getting yourself into and are willing to take the risk.
Plan for kids
When they start planning for kids, a lot of women are choosing to postpone having children into their late 30s and early 40s, because of their careers and getting married latter rather than sooner. However, many may have miscalculated their chances. to become pregnant. Two-thirds of will not be able to conceive spontaneously if they are waiting up until the age of 40 because of changes in their eggs, or and the way their ovaries function, other unknown factors. Plan early.
If you are planning to have more than one child, think also about the amount if years you want your kids to have as difference. Science tells us that children at the age of 2 will not be too accepting of siblings as opposed to aged 3.
Be a good parent
First rule, make sure you give your child love and affection. Physical contact is very important. Cuddle, strike their hair, hug and kiss them.
Tell your children you love them, and often. Do not suffocate them – make sure you choose the right moments, don’t embarrass them in front of their friends, especially in their early teen years. Love is a private feeling. You will have enough moments to express it in private.
Be generous in complimenting your children for their accomplishments, talents, and good behavior, be limited in reprimanding their mistakes or giving them lessons about their faults.
Never fall into the trap of comparing your children to others, especially to your other children. You don’t want to start siblings’ wars.
Listen. And truly listen. When your child has a problem refrain yourself from judging them. It will hurt your relationship and will damage their trust in you. Reserve your life lessons for after the issue has passed.
Be there for your kids. Make time for their piano recital, for their soccer lessons, for their birthday. Do homework with them. Always answer your phone when they call.
Do not betray your children by being a bad disciplinarian. You want to give them a lesson. But you want to be patient. You can take away their smartphone, but don’t take away your love.
GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Do you want to be that person that is brave, that is always seeking another adventure? Another adrenaline boost?
Do you want to be fearless in your relationships? In your job?
You want to be known for being bold and adventurous and confident and daring.
Here is what you can consider:
Identify your boundaries
Where is your “comfort zone” exactly? Without your establishing your limits, you can never surpass them. You might be an adrenaline junkie but you might be afraid of exploring new relationships. You might be fearless in your job, but at the same time to stop yourself form exploring new traveling destinations.
Where is your ‘optimal anxiety’?
Stay in your comfort zone and you will be stuck. Push yourself too far and you might fall off the edge. You need a stimulus to go forward. This is your state of relative anxiety — the area where your discomfort is only marginally higher than normal. The place just beyond your limits. This is where you operate with full enthusiasm and where you will reach your full potential. This is your point of ‘Optimal Anxiety’.
Your comfort zone is not particularly a good or bad thing. But there are definitely benefits to breaking beyond its borders:
- You will find yourself more energetic, busier, more productive
- You will adapt better to unexpected changes
- You will feel a surge of creativity
Break out
- Start by doing things only slightly differently than usual. Explore being a vegan for a week, try a new online search, watch a different genre of movies on Netflix
- Stop yourself form taking actions automatically – learn to think about why you are taking one action or the other.
- Try the ‘Yes Man’ exercise – from the Jim Carrey movie – try saying Yes to proposals you would have found outrageous yesterday.
HELP OTHERS
Last but not least, you can take the initiative to make the world better for others. Giving to others will make you a more content person. We are so willing to neglect our own happiness, but if we contribute to others’ we feel it inside.
Giving to charity is recommended to people who have issues with spending – because then they feel the worth of money. Volunteering is recommended to patients with depression, because it improves their sense of purpose.
You can help in so many ways. You don’t need to contribute a lot. Any effort will give you a sense of accomplishment. And after a while, you could become addicted to the feeling.
Help the environment
- Recycle, and do it the right way
- Reduce your carbon imprint
- Volunteer your time – take part in cleaning the environment or plant a tree
Help other people
- Donate money
- to a charity
- towards the research of prevention and cure of diseases
- towards the advancement of education
- Spend time with the elderly, or the disabled
- Volunteer on a hotline
- Against human trafficking
- For women, victims of domestic violence
- For suicide prevention
- Look for local calls for volunteers
Help the animals
- Donate to an animal welfare organization
- Donate food or pet toys to shelters
- Volunteer to spend time and play with animals from your local shelter
- Contribute to pet adoption initiatives
CONCLUSION
Your life goal is your life’s cause.
It is supposed to help you feel fulfilled and happy. It is the thought to give you peace one day you are at the end of your journey.
It is up to you if you want to follow your dreams and your goals.
That is why you need to be completely open with yourself what you want to achieve, what you value above all else and what you are willing to sacrifice.
Who do you want to be?
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