Last May, I spent time thinking and writing out my values and goals. I had reached a point where I was getting bored and didn't feel like I was pushing myself or growing. I also knew I had numerous negative influences in life but had no idea how to address them. Putting thoughts on paper gave me some direction to get through the craziness of life that was pulling me all over the place. A beacon to center things.
I remember sitting at outside at a pool at an airport hotel in California and thinking through where I wanted life to take me. I wrote out values and goals for my career, relationships, personal habits (including health) and finances. Nothing was super specific as in, I want to achieve X, Y or Z. It is more focused on intention.
For example, the one for Financial said, “Maintain a balance between short-term fun and long-term security”. Relationships said, “Aim for symbiotic relationships that focus on mutual support, understanding, love and kindness.”
What’s been surprising is that my life has shifted and changed so vastly since I wrote down these goals. It now reflects these goals more than I ever thought possible, especially the career and personal ones. Almost like magic.
I’m sure the fact that when I would make a decision, I would often reflect if that choice fits within these goals, played a big role in the shift. But it felt bigger than that. More powerful
Now that it’s almost been a year, I decided it was time to update my goals. And I went bigger. Instead of four goals, I went more specific, yet broader and did 10:
- Career
- Family
- Growth
- Work
- Health
- Financial
- Personal
- Relationships
- Daily Habits
- Future
I’m still smoothing them out into a finalized product, and then I want to try and read them on a daily basis…maybe morning and night. I’m interested to see where these bigger and broader goals lead me over the next 6 months to a year.