What are your big goals? What are your life goals? Have you ever asked yourself these questions? Maybe you don’t have an answer (yet). You are not alone. Finding your life goals is a quest.
What Are Your Life Goals
You don’t have an immediate answer when asked for your life goals? You are certainly not alone. However, when you ask yourself the question about your life goals and if you are thinking about it, this is already good news. Even if you don’t know the answer yet, the question alone implies that you are interested in finding out. This is a great start. And sometimes it is a life-long journey to find your big goals in life.
Before actually starting to think about what your life goals are, it helps to contemplate why goals and life goals are important. They help you to take control over your life and they provide guidance and can act as a compass when things get tough.
Your Life Goals
The “Your” is very important here. If you work in a big law firm long hours and long years, is this something you always dreamt of? Or, is this something your parents, your environment or social norms somehow expected from you?
It is important that you really think about what your goals are and not what others expect of you. At the end it is your life. And if you sacrifice your own goals for what others expect from you, you are likely to regret this at some point. And this point could be your deathbed and then it is too late.
There are so many people that are not happy in their jobs (or with their lives) because they actually want to do something different. Think about it. How many people do you know that are not happy with their jobs? When you ask them they say: “If only I could, I would start over and do what I always wanted to do.” And guess what, most people actually could. They don’t do it because they are afraid of change and of starting something new. They rather keep what they have than accepting a change with potential for so much more.
You can get an overview about how much time you might have left on this beautiful planet with our Life Time tool. This is the time you can use to find any to pursue your goals.
A Mix of Life Goals
Where some people seem to have no life goals, other people seem to have too many goals and maybe different goals every other week. They might have fear of missing out (FOMO). This comes at a cost. Due to limited resources, if you decide for one goal you also decide that you do not focus on some other goal.
A simple example is that when you focus too much on your career you might end up having too little time for your family.
That means you should focus on just a few big goals and you should cover different areas of your life. You decide what areas that might be and how to share your focus and effort.
An example for life areas is the following:
- Health and Fitness
- Family
- Career
- Social and Friends
- Finance
- Spirituality
- Environment and Community
- Self Development
- Fun and Recreation
As mentioned, this is just one possible selection.
You can use our Life Priority tool to get an overview about your current status and about where you want to go.
The Quest and How to Find Your Life Goals
OK, now, how can you actually find your life goals? First, try not to put yourself under too much pressure and try to enjoy the little things.
If you are interested to know your life goals, why not start with what you actually know and to make a list of things you enjoy and that are important for you. Just write down what comes to your mind for ten minutes. Then you can prioritize the list and what you see on the top now might bring you closer to what your life goals are. You can find a more detailed description of this exercise in the article Find Your Life Goals.
There is also a nice exercise where you can take five minutes every evening to write down what you were grateful for during the day. Even tiny things might have a positive impact over time. And you will learn more about what really matters to you.
Start small with your goals. Probably you already have goals you are not too aware of (Is It OK to Have No Life Goals?).
When you start with small goals and small steps but you do this regularly you will strengthen your “goal-setting muscle”. And, you will learn more about what is important for you. So, consequently you will get closer to answering your question about your life goals.
Would you like to know more? In the article Find Your Life Goals you can get a more detailed overview about your quest for your life goals.
And, you might want to check out our practical, free goal-setting guide: VidaGoals – Goal Setting for a Fulfilled Life.
And always remember, finding your true life goals is a journey. It is a quest.