Another year is fast approaching. Before goalsetting for the year, you can save time by first setting your LIFE GOALS…and who doesn’t want to save time?

I am all about helping you to save time in your life. What I mean by that is that I’m here to help you use more time on things you enjoy, and less time on things you don’t want to be doing.

As we come towards another year-end, many people launch into planning their goals for the next year and deciding new habits. But this post is asking you to do one more thing first..

Set some life goals.

What are life goals?

Picture of small pieces of paper with words typed on them. The words are create priorities core values implement vision communication. Part of an article about how life goals save time.

When you do a google search, you get a very varied return of definitions. One I like is from this article: “Simply put, they’re the things you would like to accomplish in your life. Life goals are the big things to work for and accomplish such as getting married and having a family, starting your own business, becoming a big-time executive, or traveling the globe.”

Of course, we don’t get to control every aspect of our life, but we can try to streamline our choices and decisions, and make the process simpler for ourselves.

They are often very much connected to our values, what is truly important to us personally.

How do they save time?

Quick Elimination

If you have your life goals set, it can save time because you will be able to quickly eliminate choices that don’t line up.

Let’s think of an example..

You are trying to decide what to have for dinner. It is one of those daily choices. But let’s look at some scenarios.

You have the option to eat out at a restaurant, get a take away, use a meal kit, or cook from scratch. You have endless choices of ingredients and cuisines.

Let’s say you have already made some life goals which among others includes these things:

  • Be as healthy as possible as a family
  • Travel regularly to new places

These two points actually guide your dinner choice. How?

Well, one thing is that you immediately have eliminated lots of junk fast food places. This is because as a family you want to be as healthy as possible.

Secondly, you want to travel. This might indicate that you will choose cuisines that are from far away from your home country. You will probably want your family to be open to trying new food.

But thirdly your budget will be a factor. Traveling costs money. So, in fact, although going to a restaurant in town that has an exotic cuisine might be nice, if you want to save up to actually get to the country, you might instead try your hand at finding a new recipe and cooking from scratch.

Some families might take a long time over making these decisions, but when you have clarity in choices, it can save time by keeping flow. Not being stuck in making choices and regretting them.

Purpose

In short …. Big decisions affect smaller decisions.

Life goals help us save time because we are moving smartly, towards a purpose, rather than aimlessly or reactively.

When we have a purpose clearly in mind we have a goal post.

Imagine football games with no goals, how excited would you be to watch that for 90 minutes. What would be the point?

So get your purpose clearly in mind. Then strategise how to get there. What is important for you to do with your life?

If you have that in mind, you won’t be lost, stuck, wondering, or procrastinating.

Life goals can be your guide through all your choices and plans.

Picture of a woman pointing at her watch. Part of an article for setting life goals

How to set life goals, with examples.

I can’t leave you hanging without some help as to how to set these goals.

I do have a more in depth article here, if you want to see a strategy, but I will briefly run through the idea here.

  1. Decide your categories. I use 3: personal, belongings, actions. Personal is things related to me. Belongings are things related to what I own, my home, car etc, what I am responsible for keeping. Actions are related to things I do, work, volunteering etc.
  2. Now run through each category with these steps: awareness, choice, plan and contain. Awareness is tapping into yourself and your values. Choice is stating what your goals will be. Plan is strategising how to get there. Contain is working out space in your life to make the changes needed.

Here is an example of what the choice section might look like:

Personal

  • Kind and humble
  • Empathetic
  • Wise
  • Spiritual

Belongings

  • Natural, simple home
  • Eco-friendly
  • Cozy and welcoming

Actions

  • Good work/life balance
  • Helping others
  • Work from home

Obviously each person will have a completely different look. Your life goals are YOURS. So they are not for comparing with others. They are to help YOUR life.

I do hope you notice that if you try out what has been written here, it will give your life direction and save you time making lots of choices and plans that just won’t serve you.

Thanks for spending time with me here today..

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