Well done if you have embraced the outstanding practice of settinggoals for yourself! However, a new challenge can often arise whenpicking too many goals. This blog proposes four ways to sift throughthe many goals on your mind to choose what is best suited to you:

1. Think about the most comprehensive picture possible.
Sit down forreflection, journaling, and exploring who you are and what matters toyou. Try making a list of your ten most important values. Once you’vedone that, think about what you want more than anything else in life,and write that down.
Keep it short, sweet, and to the point, in one sentence, no more. Youwould be amazed how having clarity on the big picture could help yousort through your goals and find the ones that matter.

2. Think about your budget and compromise accordingly.
Regardinggoal setting, thinking about your constraints and being realistic isessential. If you are holding down a nine-to-five job within the mediansalary range, saving up a million pounds in one year is not feasible.

Drop unrealistic goals or put them aside for the future and instead picksomething more reasonable, like saving up a few thousand pounds.Money is not the only factor; time and physical limitations are alsoessential to consider…which brings us to our next point:

3. Think about your health.
If you have a work-related goal. Forinstance, to hit six figures or something similar—and your doctor hasalso told you that your health is in trouble, it may be time to set asideyour money-related goals and focus on your health.

Taking a thirty-minute walk every day is more important than squeezingin an extra few hours of work every week. If you don’t pick the formergoal, the latter might drive you to a point where neither goal can bereached.

4. Remember those around you.
If you’re in a situation where otherpeople depend on you, say a family or colleagues, you may need toset aside some of your personal goals to meet their needs.

For example, if you’re a parent of several kids and you want to get ablack belt in Tae Kwon Do, but your kids are struggling in school, youmay want to set aside your drive to be Jackie Chan and spend sometime each day helping your children with their homework.

Dr Toyin Adewunmi
Director
Emerald Organisational Health and Wellbeing
Solutions
E: t.adewunmi@emerald-oh.co.uk
W: emerald-oh.co.uk