This post asks a simple question: Is it time to change your life goals?
When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.
Viktor E. Frankl
I was reading a blog post this morning about the difference between busy and productive people.
This made me think.
A big reason many people have to settle for busyness rather than achieving something is that of having wrong or old goals.
What do I mean? Many people are busy because they haven’t thought about what they want out of their life (goals) in quite a while.
We get in a rut. We stay there.
We work hard.
Then … we wake up one day and we’re old and life’s passed us by.
And still … we’re no closer to what we dreamt about in our 30’s.
Let me ask you straight up,
Are you satisfied with the way things are going in your life?
Continuing to achieve the life goals you’ve set is hopefully bringing you considerable happiness and contentment.
But, perhaps you’ve taken a different path in life and your current goals are just outdated and not relevant any longer.
Perhaps it would be helpful to get some new goals and throw some old ones out.
The fact is, sometimes, life requires that we alter the direction we’re headed.
Maybe your focus has changed due to the loss of a partner or job, demanding that you relook at the goals you established long ago.
Maybe you’ve got kids now.
Whatever the case, thinking whether or not to change your life’s dreams may be in order.
Consider these ideas about your life goals:
1. Review your current life goals list.
Pull out the list of life goals you compiled years ago.
Are they still what you want?
Maybe you’re ready to let a few of them go to make room for some new ones that are more fitting.
Give yourself permission to adjust your list as needed.
For example, maybe you thought you’d become the CEO/owner of a company someday, but you’ve discovered that you’re more of a salesman.
You love making new acquaintances and watching your sales stats rise.
It’s okay to remove the goal of becoming the owner.
2. What do you want out of life?
It’s a good idea to have your goals written down and in a file where you can easily access them to make changes and updates.
My goals are saved on my phone but the most immediate ones are on a whiteboard against my wall.
Even if you’re unsure of what your overall goals ought to be, jot down experiences you want to have and place them in your “file.”
3. Ask yourself in which areas of your life do you want to make progress, not just change.
Change for the sake of change is useless.
Many people make lots of changes but never achieve anything.
Rather ask yourself where in your life you want to make progress.
Changing is easy.
Making progress and growth is harder but more rewarding.
4. Verbalise any changes to goals you’re considering.
Inform your partner of the type of life you want since your lives and goals are intertwined.
Altering your life goals will involve your joint agreement and efforts.
Talking about what you want helps you conceptualise your goals.
Your close friends and family will also want to support you in your quest to accomplish your master life plan.
5. Infuse elements of your goals into your day.
When you include daily efforts to create the life of your dreams, your goals won’t just be some lofty ideas you rarely think about.
Be strongly connected to the objectives that will lead you to your goal.
For example, if one of your life goals is to take a trip to Europe, start a computer file where you can copy and paste links to websites and information about the places you want to visit.
Also, have a paper file to keep magazine articles and photographs.
I use my notebook’s screensaver for this.
I have pictures of all my goals constantly coming up when my laptop goes into rest mode.
This ensures it’s always there in the background.
Look something up, check your bank account to ensure your travel funds are building, or read a travel article each day.
Just start moving in the direction of your goal.
6. Try setting and achieving mini-goals.
If you’re curious about a particular goal but are unsure as to whether you want to change your life’s direction, establish a mini-goal to start exploring this area.
You’ll be able to feel things out and figure out whether the new goal enhances your interests.
Do you want to go further with this new venture?
Or have you learned enough to conclude you’ve been on the right track with prior goals you set?
Either way, you can put the concept of mini-goals to work for you.
Establishing small targets that will lead you to accomplish your main goals is smart and effective.
Life happens.
Things change.
You may see the need to alter the life plan you had previously set for yourself.
This post gives you a few strategies to do that.
Put them to work for you when you know it’s time to put some dreams to bed and start working on some new ones.
