Health & Fitness Tools

Defining Your Life Goal

10th July, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

To develop a life goal, you must be introspective and think about your successes, as well as your failures in life. Everyone has some area of life they would like to improve upon; it’s human nature. Setting SMART goals involves choosing ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-sensitive. You may have many areas you’d like to work on, but you should choose one or two as you get started. Prioritizing will be part of your success, since you want your ambitions to be achievable. Realizing your ambitions is another story that requires a positive attitude and continuous motivation. Here are some exercises to help you get started.

The first step to establishing a life goal is to do a little life planning. You might want to write down the basic categories of life, such as health, relationships/family, career, hobbies, finances and behavioral/personality traits. Then you can write down three sentences for each, stating where you have been, where you are now and where you’d like to be. So, for example, under your work goals, you might write… “Where I’ve been: I worked as a secretary at a law office. Where I am now: I am finishing my last year of law school. Where I’d like to be: I want to be an attorney at a law office firm.” You can feel good about where you’ve come from, but you can also brainstorm five short term goals that can help you reach the long term goal of becoming a practicing attorney. You might then list finishing school, taking bar exam study classes, passing the bar exam, interning at a law firm and updating resume.

Once you have everything written down, one predominant life goal will likely emerge. Have you put career first and let your health languish? Or have you been so preoccupied with your relationship that you lost sight of your career goal of running your own business? Look at some of your long term goals and list the short term goals you must accomplish to get there. Then determine an appropriate timeline in which to meet your objectives. For instance, your long term goal might be to run a five-minute mile. First, you must set up a training schedule of 5 days/week. Then, you must try to run a mile without stopping. Then you can try to shave off a minute here and there to reduce your time from 10 minutes down to five. You can try training with weights to feel lighter or change your diet slightly to include more protein and energy-boosting foods. Whatever your plan of attack may be, looking at manageable, written goals will help you accomplish them.

After you determine your life goal, the challenging part will be to stay motivated. Often, individuals lose their way and forget why the goals they set out to achieve meant so much to them. It’s recommended that you tell as many people as you can about your goal, so you will feel the social pressure to succeed. With fitness aspirations, it’s especially helpful to have a workout buddy to keep you trying your best. You may also want to surround yourself with like-minded people who are also working toward the same dream. So, for instance, if your dream is to run a marathon, then you should subscribe to a marathon runner magazine, join a few message boards or link up with a local training club to keep you focused.

Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed treating panic disorder as well as tips on the various anxiety disorder medication available at anxietydisordercure.com.