Three exercises to help you create your goals for 2023.
Are you trying to come up with goals for the year ahead but struggling to get clear on what you really want? I know I have been!
I wanted to share three exercises you can do that helped me and may be helpful to you too. To give you a guiding compass for the year ahead.
ONE - Take an inventory of last year
It is a really good idea to review last year - take out your calendar from 2022 (or bring up the electronic version!). And do a little inventory. What did you spend your time doing? You can explore the different categories:
Work - What was the paid / unpaid work? Who did you get to work with? New contacts / relationships? New skills?
People/friends - Who did you spend time with? Who did you hope to spend time with but didn’t get around to seeing?
When I did it I was reminded of an aborted trip to London to see friends I hadn’t seen for quite some time when our plans were canceled due to stormy weather disrupting the rail network. I never got around to rescheduling a trip so noticing that, I can set the intention to connect with those friends this year. It also feeds my need for travel, adventure, new experiences (in a way that is manageable with young children).
Fun/adventure - did you travel last year? Where did you go? Do you want to do more of that or something different?
Next step: ask yourself - what would you like to do more of or for the first time that didn’t happen in 2022? What would you like to do less of? And what would you like to keep doing?
This should start to bring some ideas forward.
TWO - Create a life balance wheel
If you are struggling to reflect and focus on what you want to create in your life this year, take a snapshot of where you are now in various areas. Then you will see what areas are not as high as you would like them to be and you know where to put your attention and intentions for the year ahead.
Draw a circle and divide it into 8 “pie slices” for categories: health & wellbeing; creativity; career'; family; love & relationships; money; opportunities to grow; play & leisure time (feel free to adjust these to something that is more resonant). You can then fill in each slice of the pie with a rating of 0-10.
Even if you don’t do a scoring exercise, having these areas as prompts for things you might want to explore can be very helpful.
For me, outside of work goals, I am really noticing I want to bring in more body movement - yoga, pilates, qi gong, swimming and hopefully running - and creating things with my hands - pottery class maybe, basket weaving…something that is very tactile and absorbing (getting me out of my head and into my body!).
I also want to take care of friendships that can often feel neglected in the midst of work and family life. That might look like arranging a visit, a catch up phone call or even sending a surprise card in the post - it is always nice to receive unexpected mail!
OK, after doing these, if you’re still feeling stuck it is time to get visioning!
THREE - Connect to a vision
Having a vision creates energy and clarity - we know where we are heading and then it becomes easier to put goals in place, key milestones we want to reach.
So, I invite you to take a moment and close your eyes. Fast forward to December 2023. Imagine you are standing in December 2023 and you are looking back over this year. Ask yourself:
Where are you? Perhaps a new home or office space. What does it look and feel like in the space? Who are you with?
What have you accomplished this past year? What skills have you used and gained? What have you enjoyed? What have you done or created that feels connected to your purpose?
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Once your desires for the year ahead are starting to take shape you can create a little more structure around them with SMART goal setting. I will be looking at this in next week’s blog.
I hope this gets you on your way!
Elle xo
