Your life goals reveal a lot about the type of person you are. Successful people often keep track of their life goals. These life goals help them develop the right perspective for long-term thinking. Success is never a matter of accident, it happens with consistent efforts and habits over a period of time.
These life goals can have a great impact on the type of person you can become. All great men and women who have walked on this planet have found ways to better themselves to a point, where their presence helped other people become better too. Life goals are one of the best ways to create a meaningful impact & live your highest ideals. One more thing, research has shown that keeping your goals secretive gives you a much better change of achieving them rather than disclosing them.
Do you set life goals? Do you share them with others? Well, setting life goals is a great way to keep your life on track for the things you want to accomplish. But sharing them with others prematurely doesn’t help. Research has shown that sharing goals with others can reduce your chances of achieving them. When you talk about your goals with others, it triggers a false sense of accomplishment. Your brain gets a virtual signal that you’ve achieved your goals and you lose motivation to make it happen.
1. Reading
Reading is one of the best ways to develop your brain, thinking and reasoning capacity. The most successful people in various fields owe a lot to their ability to read. Whether it is Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or Mark Zukerberg, all of them aspire to read a certain number of books every year.
How many books do you read every year? Even if you read 1 book every 2 weeks, it still gives you time to finish 26 books every year. When you spend around 10 years of time reading books, it makes you stand out and accomplish more in your life.
2. Traveling
Traveling opens up your mind to a new world altogether. When you travel in different countries or cultures, it helps your brain pick up new habits. A broad worldview and ability to understand can give you an excellent perspective in life.
Many great leaders and successful people consciously travel to learn. So, despite their busy schedules and work, they plan to travel and learn new things about the world. Traveling gives you a chance to come out of your comfort zones and explore new things. It adds to your adventure and way of life.
3. Friendships & Relationships
Your friendships and relationships reveal a lot about the type of person you are. Successful people develop the skills required to connect with their friends and build meaningful relationships. They build habits to stay in touch, talk and manage their relationships despite the busy schedule.
Managing quality relations with friends and family requires energy and efforts. While it may be possible to connect with many people, building deep and meaningful relationships is possible with a limited number of people.
4. Professional Skills
Any person who wishes to rise and succeed in the competitive world constantly refines his professional skills. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an entrepreneur, a top executive or starting your career, everyday is a new beginning. You start from scratch and cannot rest on your past.
Successful people narrow their focus areas and develop skills that help them reach to the top in their fields. They learn new skills which help them stay sharp and on top of their game. They have the motivation to improve and better their performance in the past. For e.g. personal skills require you to focus on contributing more value everyday.
5. Self Education & Learning
What is the last time you learned or tried something new? Self education and learning is a great way to make your life adventurous. .Learning to play a new instrument, language or picking up a new craft can activate your brain in compelling ways. It helps you pay attention, concentrate and keep yourself young.
Do you have a list of things you want to learn? Are you ready to stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone and devote 10 hours every week to learn new stuff?
Self education gives people the ability to comprehend and develop new skills that may be complementary to their professional skills. When the world around changes fast, your ability to learn fast, adapt and face new challenges is a rare and valuable trait.
6. Health & Hobbies
An investment in health pays one of the best returns for your future. You may have everything else, but without good health, everything is meaningless. Exercising 5-6 days a week for at-least 30 minutes everyday can unlock great energy for you. When exercise is a priority, you can perform much better in your life. Taking care of your physical and mental health is a must in today’s demanding work routines.
Pursuing a hobby gives you mental space for recovering from fatigues. It also helps your mind find new neural ways to strengthen its functioning. Some of the greatest and most successful people have diverse interests and are able to connect the dots when it matters.
7. Time Boxing
Your life is what you do everyday. When you spend time on social media feeds and spend hours scrolling your smartphones, you are wasting your days. Successful people control their day with time boxing. For e.g. they wouldn’t watch their social media for more than 30 minutes everyday. They limit the time for activities that take away attention from their core tasks.
Time boxing is based on Pomodoro technique and is a master strategy at focusing on completing tasks within a given period. It helps people do more in their day, week, & months. All this adds up and compounds over time. Successful people invest their time in activities that add up in the long run.
8. Social Impact
Your life goals will mean a little, if they did not help others around you. It could be starting with your immediate family, friends and then the society around you. Great people always strive towards creating a social impact with their day to day work. They invest time in helping as many people as they can to reach their goals and mentor them.
What do you care about the most in your life? What are your goals for creating a social impact? Working for a social cause that is dear to you and contributing your time, efforts and money to make it happen can help you discover a meaningful life.
