No one can tell you what your goals should be. Only you can determine which goals are most meaningful to you.
But, it’s safe to say there are certain areas of life that most of us would like to improve, experience, or take part in.
So, here are 5 examples of meaningful personal goals and how to reach them:
Personal Goal Example # 1: Finally Getting in Shape
Almost everyone’s New Year's Resolution list includes health and fitness. We all want to look like our ideal selves, have energy, and be able to stay active well into our later years.
But if you’re not used to physical training and dieting, fitness goals are the most tempting to put off.
Here’s the trick: You can always find a reason to not work out (or do anything that doesn’t yield immediate results). And you might even have good reasons. But you still need to find ways to make the time anyway and implement fitness into your lifestyle.
Strategies for Getting (and Staying) in Shape
- Get your workouts in before work instead of after — If you can commit to getting up an hour earlier, you can get the most uncomfortable part of your day out of the way as soon as you wake up, and you won’t have to debate skipping the gym after a hard day of work.
- Realize that fitness is a complete lifestyle change — You won’t do yourself any favors if you change your diet temporarily, exercise for six months, and then regress into old habits.Commit to creating an entirely new lifestyle, even if you need to build it up over time, or give yourself room to indulge on occasion.
- Give yourself a training goal — This could be running your first marathon, attending a martial arts tournament, or losing a set amount of weight. This gives you a destination and a reason for training that you can remind yourself of on days when you just aren’t feeling it.
- Don’t Overwhelm Yourself — If you’re inexperienced, set the smallest possible goals at first, but hit them consistently. Don’t get discouraged if other people are fitter than you are. Their progress has nothing to do with your progress.
Personal Goal Example #2: Succeed in the Dating Scene
Dating can be tough in 2023, especially if you’re an introvert.
It takes courage to meet new people and put your best foot forward with strangers, but the key is to create an abundance of opportunities for yourself.
Strategies for Dating Success:
- Create a Social Lifestyle — Make a list of things you like to do and find their social equivalent: i.e., attend cooking classes if you love to bake, go to conventions if you’re a gamer, read books at coffee shops if you love to read.
**These small changes will give you better opportunities to meet someone in the real world if you aren’t a fan of bars or clubs.
- Optimize Your Dating Profile — Did you know that people hire pro photographers to take their dating profile pictures? If you want to succeed at online dating, this might not be a bad investment. Not to mention, the majority of couples now meet online.
- Practice Being Social Everywhere You Go — If you’re shy, it takes more effort to approach and talk to someone you might like. So, practice talking to everyone (your barista, your next-door neighbor, people at the gym (see #1)).
- Don’t Apologize For Who You Are — Own your strengths and your flaws. Don’t lie about your life or who you are. Authenticity will attract the right people to you, and repel the ones who aren’t good for you. Self-confidence is one of the most attractive qualities a person can have.
Personal Goal Example # 3: Quitting a Vice
Smoking, drinking, eating, gambling, gaming — We all have that one thing that helps take the edge off of our stress.
But, you have an intuition when something isn’t good for you anymore and that your life would be much better without it. Quitting is tough for anyone, even the most disciplined among us.
Strategies for Quitting a Vice
- Recognize how this vice serves you — This might seem counterintuitive, but if you can see how your vice serves you, even if it’s destructive, it will be easier to replace it with something healthier (i.e., running to relax your mind instead of smoking).
- Put barriers between yourself and it — Block the websites you don't want to go back to, stop buying cigarettes altogether, put your favorite snack in a hard-to-reach place, stop hanging out with friends who drink frequently. These little barriers will make it less tempting for you to return to your vice.
- Get someone to hold you accountable — This makes quitting into a group effort, and if you fall back into your vice, someone can be there to gently guide you back to your goal of quitting.
- Believe You Deserve Better — You know what you’re capable of. You have to believe you can change first, and if part of you feels like you aren’t ready to move on, then you won’t. Forgiving yourself for indulging for so long is the first step toward change.
Personal Goal Example # 4: Figure Out What You Want in Life
This is not an easy task. But taking the time to consider what you’re going to do, or at least what you’re going to try to do, will get your mind right for progress.
Strategies for Figuring Out What You Want in Life
- Look at Your Fantasies — What do you fantasize about? Traveling, a significant other, mansions, winning awards, being creative, living alone out on an island? Don’t be practical for a minute. How much of that fantasy could you make a reality, even if you only got 80% there?
- Assess Your Skills — What are you good at? What do you enjoy? What would you like to be good at? What could you see yourself doing? Remember, passion for something builds the better you get at it, usually not the other way around.
- Become Self Aware — Knowing what you want in life requires self-awareness. By journaling, going to therapy, and figuring out what makes you tick, you can create a more clear vision for your future, and then you can take steps to create a system for pursuing it.
Personal Goal # 5: Build a Creative Skill
Everyone has the potential for creativity, even those of us who aren't naturally talented. If something grips you, you can put time into getting better at it and create your form of artistic expression.
Strategies for Building a Creative Skill:
- Devote Yourself to Building a Skill Daily — Whether that’s writing, playing guitar, or painting, small bursts of daily practice will compound into massive leaps in skill over time.
- Don’t Worry About Your Age — Don’t be concerned about starting something later in life. If you have enough focus, drive, and time you can devote to something, you will get better at it, maybe even great.
- Do it in a Group — Join classes of like-minded people who could also be just starting out. Attend meetups, workshops, and creative groups. There, you’ll be able to find friends and mentors to critique your work and keep you motivated.
Having a Goal Comes First
Setting out to do something, even if you aren’t sure it’s for you, will bring you in the right direction. The faster you can figure out what you don’t want, the faster you can figure out what you do.
So make goals that are deliberate and personal. When you’re looking back on all you’ve done in life in your older years, you’ll be grateful that you took the time to focus on where you sailed, instead of just drifting aimlessly.