Who has life goals?

Until recently I didn’t think I had any life goals. Today I do; but a lot of people I speak to can’t tell me their life goals.

So what’s the block? Why don’t more people have life goals?

Firstly let’s look at what a life goal is. A life goal is either:

• A goal it takes your entire life to accomplish. I.e. you only accomplish it on your death bed at the end of your life. Who wants one of those? No one? Didn’t think so.
• It’s a goal that you achieve at some point and then maintain for the rest of your life. This looks to be a better bet.

OK, if a life goal is something you achieve and then maintain for the rest of your life, then it has to be achieved at some point in time before the end of your life. no? So really life goals are just like any other goals, right? You set the goal and, at some point down the line, you achieve it.

A life goal can seem like a big deal, “What goal do I want for the rest of my life?”. Scary question! On the other hand setting medium term or long term goals doesn’t seem like such a big deal. What do I want in five years or ten years? These are time frames I can relate to, they’re within my reach and they don’t scare me.

Does that mean any goal as a ‘life goal’? No, a life goal has to have long term implications, “Get my hair cut”, is a goal; but it doesn’t have life long implications so it’s not a life goal. For me a life goal is:

Finally let’s take a look at some goals I posted a few days ago and see how they map into this new definition for life goals:

1. To be my ideal weight (12st 6lbs) – is this a life goal? Yes it is, even though it’s got a relatively short time frame it’s something I want for the rest of my life.
2. To live in a cottage by the sea – is this a life goal? Yes it is; but it has a longer time span of 14 years, which is when I retire.
3. To earn more than €100K a year – is this a life goal? Not as it’s phrased, it’s a medium term goal of 4 years and then stops there. I need to work on this goal to ensure it becomes a life goal.
4. To run a successful life coach business – is this a life goal? Yes it is. It has a medium time frame also of 4 years; but it’s something I want to be doing the rest of my life.

(That last goal is not a properly defined goal at all; but I’ll explain that in another posting).

I may have started off this session thinking I’d no life goals, where as in fact I’ve lots of them. So don’t be intimidated by the notion of setting ‘life goals’. Just set your goals and enjoy achieving them in this life.