Do you want to know how to change your goals?
Have you lost enthusiasm for your current goals or do your current goal feel out of alignment?
Throughout your life, you may experience times when you set goals and then you have the urge to change them. If that is you right now then you are in the right place. Keep on reading to find out how to change your goals and why it is ok to change them.
Before I delve into how to change your goals, I want to first explain why it is ok to change your goals.
Why it is ok to change your goals
When it comes to setting goals, some people feel that you should set your goals once and then you keep them until you’ve achieved them. In an ideal world that would be true, but we live in a world of constant change. The world around us changes and also as we grow, we change too.
People end up wanting to change their goals for a number of reasons.
1. It wasn’t a goal they wanted to achieve in the first place – Lots of people set goals that they think they should set. Goals such as get married, go to University, buy a house, get a well-paid job etc. It is easy to get caught up in setting goals based on our friends, our family or society.
2. Their vision for their life change – Your goals should be helping you achieve your dream life or big vision for your life. However, it is possible for that vision to change. When that vision changes it is natural for your goals to change too.
3. They don’t feel as if they can achieve the goal – Sometimes people want to change their goals because the goal they set feels too big. They might have been working towards the goal and feel as if they aren’t making any progress or that achieving the goal is going to take too long.
If the reason you want to change your goals is reason 1 or 2 I would say go for it. However, if you want to change your goals for reason 3 then think very carefully. If the goal still excites you and is something you genuinely want to achieve then I would recommend you keep it. Don’t limit yourself!
Hopefully, by now, you are aware of when it is ok to change your goals and below you’ll find out how to change your goals.
How to change your goals
1. Write your goals down
Before you start changing your goals you want to be clear about all of your current goals. Now, this might be super easy for you. You may have a list that you refer you often. In that case, grab your list. However, it may be that you’ve got goals written down in different places and possibly some floating around in your head. Now is the time to look at all areas of your life and try to bring all of your goals together. Maybe you have goals for your work/business, personal goals and goals with your partner. You are just one person trying to achieve all of those things, so you need to write them all down together. When you can see everything together it will make your life much easier.
2. Get clear on your big vision
Next, you need to start visualising. Your goals should be moving your closer to the life you want to create (aka your big vision) so you need to get that clear. Again, this may be easier for some than others. You will want to think about what your life would look like across all area. To get your started here are some areas you could consider:
• Family
• Friends
• Love / Dating
• Career, Work or Business
• Finances or Money
• Health
• Recreation, Leisure, Fun or Hobbies
• Personal Development, Personal Growth or Learning
• Community
• Religion or Spirituality
You want to try and get as specific as possible in each area about what you would really like.
3. Review your goals in relation to your big vision
Now that you have your big vision clear in your mind or on paper it is time to start reviewing your goals. For each goal, you need to ask yourself “Is this goal helping me to achieve my big vision?”. Depending on your big vision it may be that the goal you are reviewing directly helping you to achieve that vision very soon or it could be a tiny stepping-stone very early on in the journey. That doesn’t matter. All you need to focus on is whether it is helping you get closer to achieving your big vision.
For each goal, you should write a yes or no by the side of it.
4. Review the goals with a no
Go through your list and look at all of the goals that have a no against them. These are the goals that aren’t helping you to achieve your big vision so in theory they should be removed. However, take the time to look through your list and see if there are any that you still want to achieve. If you do, try to get clear on the reason why you want to achieve. Whilst in an ideal world your goals should all support your big vision as long as it isn’t working against it you can keep it.
5. Review the goals with a yes
After you’ve reviewed the goals with a no it is time to review the goals with a yes. These are goals that support your big vision, but that doesn’t mean you should just keep all of them. You need to review each goal and check that it is something you still want to achieve and something you are excited to work towards.
6. Review your new list of goals and add new ones if necessary
By now you have edited your original goals list, but changing your goals isn’t just about reviewing your current goals. Now you should have a new list of goals. Look at this list and check that there isn’t anything missing. For example, it could have been that during the cutting stage you got rid of all of your goals to do with health and so you need to create new ones. If you aren’t really sure how to spot whether you are missing anything you can use the wheel of life to help (Learn how to use the Wheel of Life here).
If there are areas that missing for your goals list you can then add new goals to your list and you are done!
There you have it! You now know how to change your goals.
Hopefully, you won’t have to change your goals too often. However, being open to changing your goals is key and now you have a process to help you.
I hope you found this blog post useful. I would love to know in the comments a goal you removed or added from your list whilst changing your goals.
