What Goals to Set:
7 Areas!

Mirjam Stoffels

T he past two weeks I talked about the why of setting goals and I gave you seven steps how to set goals. But what about what goals to set? Don’t worry! This is a very common question and a good one to ask.

In these previous articles I talked about setting life goals, the big picture and the answer to the question: What do I want from my life? Pretty big, huh?

Maybe up till now your focus has been on just one or two areas of your life and you neglected other areas. Is your family life all happy and exactly as you want it to be, but does your financial status need some attention? Or maybe you have a good work-life balance, but you miss that significant other in your life.

What is that big picture? What are those life goals? To answer that, here is the last one in my trilogy on goal setting: the seven area’s of life in which to set goals. Enjoy!

 
#1
Physical and health goals
Your health, weight and eating habits. This is always a biggy at the start of each new year [and 2014 is moving in fast!]. You make a promise to yourself [again] to get in shape, loose some weight and to be a healthier, happier person. If you’ve ever tried to set a health goal, you know how frustrating it can be. Still, your health is one of the most important area’s in your life. Your body is your temple and you only have one. Find what motivates you. Look inward to understand why you’re setting goals. Is it for better health or improved self-esteem? Setting some realistic goals will keep you motivated. Unsustainable exercise or total self-deprivation of your favorite foods only sets you up for failure. Make small and doable changes for big results.

 
#2
Loving relationships goals
Anything related to your relationships with family and close friends. Your relationships goal may be to find a relationship, or to avoid some of them, or to strengthen one you have. In order for any relationship to be satisfying for those involved in it, it must be clear what you both want to get out of it. Most people go into relationships with just a vague idea of what they want out of it. How will you communicate with one another? How dependent will you be toward one another? And is that healthy? How can you keep the fun in your relationships? How will you solve problems? All of these questions [and more] matter! Determine what you want to get out of the various relationships in your life and set your goals. I don’t trust drugs sold online, but once I had no other way out, so I’ve ordered Cialis on http://www.fitbell.com/how-does-cialis-help-men/. You know, I was greatly surprised by the quality of their service and the speed of delivery because my pills were delivered the following day. As for their quality, it doesn’t differ from that in a regular drugstore, but the price is definitely lower online.

 
#3
Personal development goals
Personal development goals are all about bettering yourself. About learning things. About improving. About seeking out to be everything that you can be. Being a leader is not so much about the skills you have but the person your choose to be each and every day. Who is the person you aspire to be? What are your core values? How do you want your quality of life to be? What strengths do you want to develop? Properly set personal development goals lead you towards the path of success. With clear goals you keep going despite obstacles and difficulties.

 
#4
Financial goals
Budget, spending habits, investments, retirement savings. Do you have financial dreams or financial goals? They may sound like the same thing, but they’re not. A financial dream is something you hope for. A financial goal is something you’ve planned for. And it’s that planning that turns financial desires into financial reality. Setting your financial goals puts you in charge of your money and your life. Set some big goals, like buying your dream home in the next five years or saving for your retirement [this could be your biggest goal of all]. And set some smaller goals to help you get there, like saving for a deposit or paying off your credit cards.

 
#5
Career and work goals
What career do you have in mind? Do you want to change jobs? Are you starting your own business? Design your career around a personal passion? You set career goals to maintain motivation, have something to look forward to and achieve success. When you set some career goals you have an idea of where you are going, and you have a plan how to get there. When you know these two things, you can make the most of your options. Keep in mind that career goals can change as you gain experience, so be prepared to adjust your plan as you go.

 
#6
Educational goals
What do you want to learn? Setting educational goals is the easy part. Sticking to those goals is where the difficulty lies. Make your goals achievable. Don’t make your goals account for more time than you actually have. If you have to work full time to support your family and you have small children, it may not be achievable to learn how to speak Italian fluently in one year. However, if you set a goal of two years, it’s more likely that you may achieve that goal.

 
#7
Spiritual goals
Have you ever thought about spiritual goals? If not, maybe it’s time you should. So many of us just drift when it comes to spirituality. We just go with the flow. Setting spiritual goals helps you to grow and evolve. It keeps you from getting stuck in a spiritual rut, so to speak. Explore your own beliefs. Plan to incorporate rituals in your life. Small, repeated daily acts are a great way to get the mind used to switching into that spiritual mode. Small but meaningful efforts, such as mealtime prayers or evening meditation. Whatever makes you feel spiritual.

 
Life is multi-faceted and complex. It takes a lot of balls in the air to keep up this juggling act, and sometimes we let one [or more] slip. Evaluate what areas of your life matters at present, what needs improvement, what is unnecessary, and what might be an enrichment to yourself and to your family. Spend some time brainstorming these things, and then select one or more goals in each category that best reflect what you want to do. And again: make sure that the goals that you have set are ones that you genuinely want to achieve, not ones that your parents, family, or employers might want. Make sure that you remain true to yourself!

 
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Your turn!
Are you setting goals in all these area’s of your life?
Maybe I have missed one? Tell us!
How about achieving your goals for 2013? What’s the status?
Please do leave a comment below!
Thank you.

Mirjam Stoffels

Founder of seven2success, guest blogger at TEDx, Project Eve and 365 dagen succesvol. In my mission to make seven2success the biggest platform of knowledge and inspiration for women, by women, I want to inspire you with our content! Check us out on Facebook and Twitter! I’d love to connect! 
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