a more comprehensive guide to goal setting
Achieve your best self by setting goals that make more sense!
(definition) GOAL: an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. (wikipedia)
Whether you're seeking to boost your well-being, improve an aspect of your personal life or work toward a professional achievement, creating a plan of action is the guide for that path.
What a lot of “goal setting” advice misses are the ideas of how values, past & current experiences and abilities factor into our desired outcomes.
Here are 4 topics you may not be thinking of (or putting enough energy into) when you’re goal setting!
1. YOUR PAST & CURRENT EXPERIENCES, LIFESTYLES & CIRCUMSTANCES
When it comes to setting goals, it’s important to explore “where you’ve been” in order to determine the best course of action and “where you’d like to go.”
With resiliency being a key factor in personal growth (and mental health), you want to understand how you perceive your past experiences, your ability to learn from setbacks and how you adapt to change.
In order to set goals (and give yourself a fighting chance at reaching them!) it’s a good idea to look at the past, take inventory of your current life and see how it all impacts the path ahead.
2. YOUR PERSONAL CORE VALUES
Aligning your goals with your values helps create a meaningful life.
Dare I say they’re crucial for personal development…?
Think about it. When you’re feeling the most like yourself, you’re probably doing things that help you feel most like . . . well . . . YOU!
Your core values are the principles that resonate deeply. The intangible “things” that mean the most to you. These can be things like religion, loyalty, fun, honesty, family, health, and creativity.
I encourage you to write down a list of your values and choose 5-7 that make the most sense to you at this point in your life. Afterward, ask yourself if you’re living a life that’s in alignment with these values. These kinds of journaling activities can provide insight into how you make decisions, find fulfillment and, ultimately, live your life.
3. BUILDING SELF ESTEEM & CONFIDENCE
Developing a strong, healthy sense of self-esteem is a cornerstone of personal growth.
It involves recognizing your self worth, understanding your strengths and realizing your limitations.
Exploring your personal characteristics (what makes you, you) can help you figure out how to utilize your strengths to the best of your ability while navigating limitations.
Building confidence means that we’re working to step outside our comfort zones, face challenges, overcome self-doubt, build assertiveness skills and capitalize on our strengths & capabilities.
Think of confidence as skill-based and self esteem as how you think of yourself as a human being.
With a healthy self esteem and bolstered confidence, we learn to navigate challenges with grace.
4. YOUR DAILY HABITS
Unless it's something egregious, what you do once in a while doesn't have a ton of impact on your goals.
If you want to exercise and make physical activity a habit, going for a 30 minute walk once a week or every couple weeks is good but it's (unfortunately) not going to make a significant impact on your stamina.
You’re what you do on a daily, regular and consistent basis.
Think of your daily and weekly habits as pieces of a large puzzle. When you look at one piece, it may seem small and not make much sense. But it can help build a bigger picture or it can complete the final image! Those “little pieces” of the puzzle may seem small, but they’re anything but insignificant.
Keep this in mind every day - small does NOT mean insignificant.
OKAY, BUT WHAT ABOUT SMART GOALS?
Notice we didn't really get into the topic of SMART goals, not that they don't have a significant role in goal setting.
I agree that learning how to break down goals, motivate yourself and track progress is incredibly important.
What we have to recognize is that you can set all the SMART goals you want, but if you don't understand your motives, deeply held beliefs, ability to adapt to change, the health of your self esteem, your personal values, etc, the goals may continue to be something that you set year after year and wonder why they continue to seem out of reach.
I want to encourage you to set yourself up for success as you address your goals.
Yes, stretch your thinking beyond what may think you’re capable of. You want to challenge your capabilities and be able to grow along the way!
However, if you continually set goals without a better understanding of your own processes, you may perpetuate a cycle of aggravation and feelings of defeat.
And that's the cycle we want to break!
If you need help with this process and want to dig in, the Goal Setting Workbook is available here! It’s a 50+ page workbook and journal written to help you explore these topics, set goals and unlock insights. It also contains supplemental worksheets to support your ongoing journey.
It’s your very own roadmap with insights and strategies to support goal setting & continuous growth.
(And one of the best parts is that you can print and use the pages any time you need, want to change your goals and as you make progress.)
Personal development is an ongoing journey.
Here's to the most empowered, resilient, and best version of you!
Let's call that person YOU 2.0 ;)
Cheers to the days ahead. They're coming & going whether we do something or not. So we might as well set some goals and love ourselves along the way.
May you achieve your goals and embrace the transformative power of personal development!
To make an appointment or ask a question, visit the contact page to send us a message!
Talk soon,
Lori