Goal Setting for Motivation and Emotional Intelligence

Sarah Puzey -

Motivation is the driving force behind our actions. Lets be honest - we all lose it sometimes! So how can we keep the motivation alive and resist the temptation to give up?

Goal setting can help drive our career, our personal growth and give us a sense of purpose in life. It can also improve our emotional intelligence by boosting our self awareness. It allows us to analyse our strengths, weaknesses, values and passions.

Goals are based around different areas, such as:

  • Financial
  • Career/education
  • Health/fitness
  • Life purpose
  • Leisure/hobbies
  • Contribution/legacy

So what are your top 3 life goals? Not many of us could answer that, so how do we start to find out? We can start by taking some time out to visualise where we see ourselves in 5 years time. Pick 3 areas you would like to focus on, such as career, health and relationships. Are your goals for these realistic? Do they hold meaning for you and align with your values? If they do, you will be motivated to keep the goal alive. With each of these goals, think about the small steps you will need to achieve these. The stepping stones that will get you to your 5 year goal. Where do you need to be in 2 years? In 6 months? This makes the goal much more achieveable.

Most importantly, schedule in time to work on these goals every week. Even if it's just 15 minutes, a tiny step - it will all add up and keep your goal in the fromt of your mind. Vision boards are a perfect way to keep your long term goals in mind and provide daily motivation. Goal setting can also be used for self care.

I found a great tool online to help identify your long term goals. It's a bit quirky - who doesn't want to plan their own obituary?! But I found it fun and an interesting take on goal setting, so give it a go here! So now you've had some time to think about it, what are your top 3 life goals?