Reaching your goals each month and each year is not an easy undertaking. Reaching your life goals is even harder. This is especially true if you do not even know what your life goals are.
Big Goals First
We are all very busy with our daily routines. There are things to do for our job, with our families and there are the weekend activities. It never stops. It never stops unless you stop it. Certainly, these activities are important but do they bring you closer towards your life goals?
Consider a jar you would like to fill up with stones. The big stones are the important ones – your life goals. The smaller stones are the less important goals – your small tasks at the job and your daily routines. If you start filling your jar with the small stones first, it might happen that at the end there is no more space left for the big stones. Your life goals do not fit into your lifetime any more.
On the other hand, if you start putting the big stones into the jar first, you can be sure they will fit it in – you can accomplish your life goals. In between and if there is time left you can always put one of the smaller stones into the jar. If, at the end, some of the smaller stones do not fit in, it does not matter too much. You have achieved your big life goals and you will have no regrets on your deathbed.
Yes, this is a bit simplified but the idea is important. A lot of people are running after things that seem to be important but at the end, and if they are honest to themselves, they work for other people’s goals. Certainly, it is good if you work on your career. However, if you work so hard that you have no time to start your family or care for it, this is bad. Of course, you can also see it the other way around. If you sacrifice all your time for your family, you might still miss some things that matter for you. In any case – it is your decision.
Your Life Goals
What are your life goals by the way? Do you know your life goals? If you do not, it is no wonder you are not working on them, right?
So, what are life goals? What are your life goals? Well, it depends on the definition but basically life goals are the big things you would like to achieve before you leave this beautiful planet. It can be something like having a family, founding your own company or writing a book. Your life goals should be aligned with your Core Values.
A life goal is too big to be covered in this article alone. So, stay tuned …
But I Have No Time
I have a job and a family and I need the job to support my family.
No! You have the same amount of time as anybody else. For example, tomorrow, you will have 24 hours, or 1,440 minutes, the same amount of time as the people around you. By the way, you can check your average remaining lifetime with our Life Time Calculator.
So, it is not about the time. It is about priorities. If you work the whole day and then come home late and watch TV, this is how you prioritize your life. It is your active decision. If you dream of opening your own restaurant but you find no time to even get started, it is your decision.
If you have a dream – a life goal – you have to make some time for it. Prioritize! It might be hard, harder than watching TV at least, but hey, it is about your life goals. What can be more important? You can reserve one hour a day to plan your restaurant. You can (have to) do this after your day job. Then, you can gradually bring your plan to action until you live your dream.
The same is true for the argument (or for the excuse) that you have to work for a living. Of course, you have to. But you do not have to do this for ever, especially if you hate your current job. You can work for a living and still do something you enjoy, something meaningful for you. Ideally, you earn money for something you would be happy to do for free. If this is not the case right now, make a plan to change that and reserve some time after your current job to work on that plan. Make your life goals your priority.
You can visualize your current and your ideal life priorities in our Life Priorities tool. By the way, the plural form or the word priority only started to emerge at the beginning of the 20th century. Before there was only one priority. You can also check how you use your energy with our Energy Tool. Do you use your energy wisely?
No more excuses. Think of your daily activities. Which ones bring you closer toward your life goals? Start prioritizing and work on your life goals today.
Our free VidaGoals app can help you as well. You can find it in the Google Play Store.