4 Things to Keep in Mind When Choosing What Goals to Pursue

If you’ve embraced the wonderful practice of setting goals for yourself, kudos to you—but a new challenge can often arise when we start picking too many goals. Here’s a way to sift through the stars and find which ones to reach for.

 

1.    Think about the biggest picture possible. 

 

Sit down for a little reflection, journaling, and exploration of who you are as a person and what matters to you. Try making a list of your ten most important values. Once you’ve done that, think about what you want more than anything else in life, and write that down. 

 

Keep it short, sweet, and to the point, in one sentence—no more. You’ll be amazed about how having clarity on the big picture will help you sort through your goals and find the ones that matter.

 

2.    Think about your budget and compromise accordingly. 

 

When it comes to goal setting, it’s important to think about the constraints you face and be realistic. If you’re holding down a nine-to-five gig within the median salary range, saving up a million dollars in one year is not feasible (probably). 

 

Drop that goal or put it aside for the future, and instead pick something more reasonable like saving up a few thousand dollars. Money is not the only factor; time and physical limitations are also important to consider…which brings us to our next point:

 

3.    Think about your health.

 

If you have a work-related goal—say, to hit six figures or something similar—and your  doctor has also told you that your health is in trouble, it may be time to set aside your money related goals and focus on your health. 

 

Perhaps taking a thirty minute walk every day is more important than squeezing in an extra few hours of work every week. If you don’t pick the former goal, the latter one might drive you to a point where neither goal can be reached.

 

4.    Remember those around you. 

 

If you’re in a situation where other people are dependent on you, say a family or colleagues, you may need to set aside some of your personal goals in favor of meeting their needs. 

 

For example, if you’re a parent of several kids and you want to get a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, but your kids are struggling in school, you may want to set aside your drive to be Jackie Chan and spend some time each day helping them with their homework.