This Life Balance Tip is about your Goals for 2008.  What? Goals? Yes, goalsetting is one of the most powerful activities you can do for your success and balance.  It's knowing where you want to go.

Process

Sit down with your spouse and/or alone with a blank sheet of paper.  We always do it together as a couple and individually, last year we did it on New Year's eve as we didn't go to a party. It was a great exercise and a great way to say 'hello' to the new year. Then start creating your goal list for 2008 by jotting down all goals around things that you want to 1) Do, 2) Have, 3) be, or 4) know.

For example, one of our goals for 2007 was to move and find a new house, to move with our little daughter from the city to a more rural area.  We achieved it as we constantly reminded ourselves.  We have around 30-40 goals individually - about half of them are joint goals as a family, the rest are personal goals. 

We are often asked what kind of goals, into which depth one should go, whether 'Go swimming next week' or 'Becoming President of the US' are similar goals...  In the coaching practice I tend to say that goals should be as they come to mind. They should be stretching and not too easy to reach.

Here are some key areas to focus on - all examples are real examples of one of our goals last year: 

• Personal (e.g. 'I want to read 20 books next year')


• Family & relationships (e.g. 'spent 1 evening/lunch per week as a couple'),


• Health & wellness (e.g. '4 times 20 minutes exercise per week each week next year'), 


• Career (e.g. 'I want to get promoted by December next year'),


• Business (e.g. 'I want to build an internet business that provides extra passive income')


• Financial (e.g. 'save minimum 20% of net income from work next year'),


• Spiritual (e.g. 'meditate at least 2 times per week')

Try to review it over the couse of 2008 - 1 per every 2-3 months is usually a good timeline.

This overall process is a great and fun exercise to be done together or alone.  It's different from the typical resolution in a sense that you spend quality time thinking about yourself, your ideal life, and how to get there in an actionable way. Enjoy the process!

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