9 Smart Goal Setting Questions You Need To Ask Yourself
- Dec 29, 2022
- 5 min read
Written by: Christy Roberts, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Living with meaning and purpose is like rocket fuel for humans. Did you know the average person spends more time planning a holiday than planning their life? A Harvard Business Study showed that the 14% of people who have goals are 10 times more successful than those without goals. The 3% with written goals are 3 times more successful than the 14% with unwritten goals. Successful people set goals, write them down, and take action toward achieving them.
We know that when we set clearly defined and structured goals we are significantly more likely to achieve the results we want, yet most of us either don’t take the time to do it or have no idea where to start.
Don’t fall into the trap of living by accident or by default.
Live by design.
When your goals are aligned with who you are as a person, with your values and beliefs, you will naturally connect with more intrinsic motivation, passion, and purpose.
Purpose is our fuel
In this article I’ll be sharing a simple structure you can easily follow to help you create some really cool goals for yourself.
Our life goals can vary from:
The quality of our relationships
Running a billion-dollar company
The next level of your career
Your health & fitness
Time with the kids
$$$ in the bank
Financial freedom
Educating ourselves
Giving back to the community
And everything in between
Our dreams and aspirations are the seedlings of reality. If your trees are not already growing, then you need to start planting.
NOW!
Setting personal and professional goals is a simple and powerful process that moves you toward your ideal future. The more clarity you have around your future vision, the more motivated you will be to turn this into reality.
As a coach, healer, and educator, I see way too many people living a life that is not even close to their dreams and aspirations. The majority of my new clients do not have defined goals.
Life happens – events like job loss, relationship breakdowns, grief, trauma, even becoming a parent changes you. Many people lose connection with themselves along the way.
It doesn’t need to be that way. It’s totally possible to overcome these hurdles and obstacles, if you’re prepared to step up and do ‘the work’.
Get out your pens and paper because if you’ve read this far, I expect you’re serious about creating change in your life.
This simple activity and questions will get you started toward defining goals that are aligned with what’s most important to you.
They’ll have you planting seeds and moving towards creating a life you want and are proud to be living.
The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life. When you know precisely what you want to achieve a couple of things happen:
Your future vision becomes clearer
Effective goals should act like a compass pointing you towards your true Northern Star.
Not only will you have more clarity around where you’re heading but it will become easier to determine what steps you need to take to get there.
You set your expectations and focus
This guides where you need to focus your attention and concentrate your efforts.
Motivation & Self Confidence builds
Properly set goals can be incredibly motivating. As you get into the habit of setting and achieving goals, you'll find that your self-confidence and esteem builds.
Remember: the past cannot be changed, and the future is the direct result of what you do right now!
As a Life & Results Coach, that works primarily with high achievers and leaders, I use a holistic approach that supports my clients to achieve balance across all aspects of their life, including:
1. Career – profession ‒ business
2. Relationships
Partner
Family
Friends
Community
3. Hobbies and Activities
4. Health & Well-being
Physical
Emotional
Mental
Spiritual
5. Wealth and Abundance
The 9 Goal Settings Questions
Consider each of the above life areas and answer the following 9 questions, separately, for each category.
Brainstorm your ultimate vision for each area of your life, one at a time, using the following questions. Start with the area you would most like to improve.
What is your goal for this area? Success in this area would be …
What’s the big picture and what’s the small picture?
What 3 things in this area would you like to focus on improving in the next 6 months?
What are the barriers or challenges that are currently holding you back? (why aren’t you there already?)
What actions can you take to overcome these barriers or challenges?
Make a list of all the possible people, businesses, entities, and groups who can help you achieve this goal.
What can you do to empower yourself? What choices do you have to improve these challenge areas?
Is there anything you’re not doing currently that would make an impact or difference?
What specific actions can you take, starting now, that will start moving you closer to achieving your goals?
Setting Goals that are SMART
The biggest mistake people make when they’re setting goals is being too vague. Details are important.
A great tip when setting goals is to Be SMART ‒ ask yourself, is it:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant, and
Timely?
Once you’ve brainstormed each question for a specific area of your life, revisit each goal ‒ through a SMART lens.
Ask yourself ‒ is it SMART?
If it’s not SMART and doesn’t tick each box, then rework the goal so it is more specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. This ensures your goal is robust, actionable, tangible, and measurable, meaning it provides better clarity and direction and is much more likely to be achieved.
I trust that’s useful.
You can access a free Goal Setting Workbook at christyrobertscoaching.com.
If managing your time or deciding what’s most important to you is a challenge, check out our online course Master Your Time – Master Your Life.
I work with clients around the world, online via zoom. You can book me 1:1 or join our Group Coaching Program.
If you’d like to know more, reach out to me via the Creating Change website.
Happy goal setting.
Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and visit my website for more info!
Christy Roberts, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Christy is the Global Self Directed Healing Practitioner Trainer, an award-winning Coach, and Grief Educator with over 20+ years of Human Resources and Organisational Development experience.
She helps people journey through the toughest of life’s challenges, like grief, trauma, anger, anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, fear, overwhelm, stress, and burnout.
Christy is passionate about unlocking our human potential, transforming mindsets, and supporting people to get out of their own way and live their ultimate lives by achieving the success and results they desire.
She provides Coaching, Self Directed Healing, Workshops, and Educational Resources that positively impact people, leaders, and workplaces.
As Founder of Creating Change, she is driven to make a change in our society and culture, so that we are more authentically connected to ourselves and living with passion and purpose.
