A few days ago, I started with a new post series called “Tips for Goal Setting.” As the new year is right around the corner, I think it is the perfect time to speak about New Year’s resolutions; why so many of us fail to achieve our goals and most importantly: how to break that pattern and succeed. As mentioned in my first post, goal setting is a lengthy topic, therefore, I decided to split it into multiple posts. In my introductory post, I covered all goal-setting steps that I suggest to follow in a nutshell. Today, however, we are diving into much more detail, starting with step 1 – preparation and self-assessment.
- Step 1 (preparation and self-assessment)
- Step 2 (setting the goals and preparing the list)
- Step 3 (action and revaluation)
Step 1 (preparation and self-assessment)
Prior to writing down any goals, I usually take a moment and assess my current life situation. That also helps me to increase my self-awareness. The method I use is a (life) coaching tool called The Wheel of Life (WOL). Since I am not a life coach or a therapist, I’m just speaking from my own personal experience here. I simply draw a circle on the paper and divide this into sectors (if drawing isn’t your thing, download the WOL here). Each sector presents a different key area in my life. It is totally up to you how many sectors you draw and how choose to name them. My circle has 8 sectors and I have named them as the following: health/body, family, romance/significant other, friends/social life, mind/spirituality, hobbies/personal development, career, finances. Once done, I start coloring the sectors. The more satisfied I am with a specific area in my life, the fuller the sector becomes. For example, if I’m 70% happy with my career at that moment, I color a respective sector a bit more than half way.
When I am finished with coloring my sectors, I am able to see a snapshot of my life at the moment. The key here is to understand how balanced we are in our lives and to closely see which area we start paying extra attention to. I personally believe (though you might disagree) that balance is one of the main ingredients to a happy life. Another crucial reason: in case something unexpected happens, I’m able to take that blow much easier when all other key areas of my life are strong and stable. You can also imagine your life as a roof that is supported by pillars. If one of the pillars fractures or breaks, the roof won’t collapse because the other pillars are strong enough to bear the weight.
As our lives might change quickly (at least mine tends to do so), I like to re-evaluate my WOL every quarter (or after a major life event takes place). I know my graph won’t ever be perfect, but it helps me to become more self-aware. Therefore, I highly suggest you to create your WOL sooner rather than later because the most you have to lose is roughly 15 minutes of your day.
Suggestion: do not forget to add a date on your WOL and save that piece of paper (or at least make a photo of it). Even better: get a notebook for your WOL and goals – this way you don’t need to search for a single piece of paper in your drawer and you can clearly see your progress as time progresses. Needless to say, it is super amusing to look back at your life in a year or two from now and to see what were you thinking back then. I also have to confess that I bought a notebook for myself only a couple of months ago, and unfortunately, I’ve lost most of my lists that I wrote when I was living in New York. So, learn from my mistake, and unless you want something from Midori or Moleskine, you can go to the supermarket and get a notebook for $1.
This brings us to the conclusion of step 1 of the goal setting process. I hope you found it helpful and that you are ready to work on your WOL. Stay tuned for steps 2 & 3!
Light and love,
Liis