“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours,” said writer-philosopher Henry David Thoreau. In his view, a life goal is essential for success and happiness in life, yet is different for everyone. To Thoreau, living devoid of technology and material possessions, simply soaking up nature and simplicity in an isolated cabin was his dream. To someone else, advancing the corporate ladder, getting a raise and being able to purchase comforts and status symbols might be a goal. To begin imagining your dreams, all you need is a quiet place, a pen and a piece of paper.

Try this life goal setting exercise to get yourself on the right path. List the areas of your life you’d like to work on, along with five subsequent objectives. It could be your health, career, finances, relationships, hobbies, spirituality or your behavioral/personality traits. Then, rate each area on a scale of 1-10 (1 being least satisfied, 10 being most satisfied). For instance, your life goal list for health might include weight loss, physique, eating habits, health and habits. On your satisfaction level list, you might admit that your weight satisfaction level is a 5, and that you’d like to lose 20 pounds. Your physique satisfaction might be a 6, as you’d like to build muscle with weight training two days per week. Your eating habits might be a 7 because you need to eat smaller portions. Your health could be an 8 because you’re generally happy but you know your cholesterol is a bit high. For your habits, you may be at a 10 because you are now going to the gym three days a week like you wanted to.

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 discover your life goal, you need to look at what you logistically need to do to complete your task. Do you need to keep your life goal list tacked to your refrigerator or work desk as a constant reminder? Do you need to write weekly short term aims down in your day planner? Do you need cell phone reminders set to keep you motivated during the day? Reminders often help people who are trying to tackle complicated work projects. Also, do you need to hire someone to whom you’ll be accountable? When people are trying to lose weight or achieve fitness goals, it helps to have a personal trainer or work with an establishment like Jenny Craig, as people will call to make sure you’re staying on track and keeping focused. It may also be helpful to reward yourself for your smaller accomplishments as time goes by to keep you motivated and sensing progress.

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