Our brains are wired in such a way that we are constantly seeking for the goals that important to us. We tend to live an intentional life as we give our minds the direction of where we want to go.
For instance, if you plan to watch a movie at home tonight, highly likely, you will do everything to make sure your plan happens. You will go back on time and you will get yourself ready for the movie. That’s how our brains work.
And this is why it is interesting to have goals in our lives. Not just one goal, but many.
Of course, when it comes to focus, you want to only focus on just one goal at a time. When we talk about life as a big picture, I believe we should have goals in all areas.
And here are 31 good goal ideas you can consider setting for yourself:
1. Attend a personal development course
Let’s face it, personal development is important. You want to constantly improve yourself to achieve more in life. Hence, set it as a goal to attend a personal development course.
It can be a 3-day workshop or a 1-day seminar conducted by any experts in the field that you want to improve. The key is to attend at least once a year.
2. Complete a full marathon
While I have never completed a full marathon (42km) before, it is one of my goals. I have completed a half-marathon before and I find the experience to be interesting. If you’re into running and sports, you can consider setting this as your goal.
3. Travel to a country you’ve never been before
You love to travel, don’t you? Hence, make it your goal to travel to a country you have never been before, at least once a year. The world is huge, and life is not going to be boring if you only stay in one place for your entire life.
In fact, many studies have found that traveling is good for personal development because it can boost your confidence and also expand your comfort zone. Here is a list of all the interesting places you may want to visit:
- The Taj Mahal
- Go to the Great Wall of China
- Explore the Machu Pichu
- Take a tour at the Salt Lake in Bolivia
- Visit the Sistine Chapel
- Enjoy the romantic view at Santorini
4. Save some money every day
This is what I do every day. It can be any amount like $1, $5, or $10. If you have more, you can save more. The key is to do it every day.
I discover that it is easier to save every day than to save once a month. This is because saving once a month is too long and I often forget to do so. Plus, it is easier to save in a small amount every day than to do it for a big amount at once.
Remember, you want to develop the habit of saving, thus, the amount doesn’t really matter. If you’re tight on budget, you can save just $1 every day. Set it as a goal and make it habit now.
5. Volunteer your time and effort to a cause that matters to you
When was the last time you volunteer to help out for a bigger and more meaningful course? You don’t need to spend money here, you just need to put in your time and sincerely help those who are in need. You can volunteer to clean the old folks home or do the cooking in an orphanage too. Self.com has published an article on 12 ways how to volunteer and give back to yourself, read it here.
6. Read one book per month
If you don’t make this as your goal yet, do it right now. Make the decision and commit to reading at least one book per month. The majority did not read a book after they graduated from schools. And this is why most people are not improving and are living the same life over and over again.
I love to read. I have a whole shelf full of books. And if you have no idea what books to read, check out my personal recommendation here.
7. Exercise daily
Yes, exercise daily. If you want to stay healthy and live a good life, make sure you exercise on a regular basis. The best is to spend at least 15 to 30 minutes to exercise each day. If you can’t make it, then just spend 15 minutes to do some simple stretching.
We all know that exercise is important to not only keep us healthy, but to increase our productivity too. Read this article for the 15-minute workout plan.
8. Take the one-day offline challenge
This is an extreme challenge for many people these days. We cannot live without the internet and our phone. We work in front of the computer almost the entire day. Thus, it is a good goal to have to challenge yourself to take a one-day off. Yes, totally disconnect yourself from your electronic devices and stay away from the internet.
Don’t check social media and just switch off your phone and keep it away. When you do this, you will be forced to do something more meaningful, like sports, spending time with your family members, have a date day, etc.
9. Learn to cook
We all need to eat to survive, why don’t learn to cook then? It is a great goal because you don’t want to have a work-only life. You want to have fun too, thus, learn to cook. Learn to cook a new meal once a month. You can bake or make cookies if you want to as well.
10. Set many adventure goals
We all love challenges and adventures. Therefore, set many adventurous goals. You can have goals such as:
- Hike and conquer a mountain
- Ride a hot air balloon
- Learn to surf
- Snorkel or scuba dive in Hawaii
- Swim with the dolphins
- Go to the Olympics
- Check out the Safari in Africa
Whatever adventure goals you have, make them fun and exciting. Choose goals that you really love to do, perform, and experience. That will make your life interesting and fun.
11. Learn a new skill
Besides having adventurous goals, you want to learn something new too. And learning a new skill doesn’t mean you have to focus on your career, it can be your hobby or something that you love to do…
- Calligraphy
- Knitting
- Basic car repair
- Photography
- Gardening
- Play piano or guitar
12. Self-publish a book
Do you know that you can publish your own book without going through an agent anymore? Now, anyone can be an author. So, set it as a goal and self-publish a book. If you don’t want to publish it, you can also choose to sell it or give it away for free on your blog or website.
It is always a good challenge to write a book by yourself. It is not an easy task, but it is a great goal to have to focus on writing and to put down your thoughts onto a book. Read this article from James Altucher to find out more about how you can self-publish a book.
13. Make a life-changing donation
Don’t get me wrong when I said “life-changing”. It can be any amount, really. As long as your donation can make a positive impact and help the ones who are in need, then you’ve successfully made a life-changing donation. You may not have a lot of money, but as long as you donate, you’re making someone else’s life better. You’re making a positive impact in the world. Make it your goal to donate once a month.
14. Practice daily affirmations and mantra
One way to make sure you are moving in the right direction and are living an intentional life is to practice affirmations every day. If you want to live a successful life, repeat your daily mantra and constantly remind yourself of who you want to be. Let your self-talk guides you in life. Read my article here for more affirmation ideas:
77 Positive Affirmations to Start the Day
15. Drink more water
On average, a normal adult requires to drink 2 liters of water every day. If you’re not drinking this amount of water each day, make it your daily goal right now. It is important to keep our body hydrated because the majority of our bodily functions require water to operate properly. Get yourself a drinking bottle and carry it wherever you go. Place your water bottle in front of your work desk.
16. Build a blog
It is easy to start a blog these days. So, you may want to consider making it your goal to build a blog and have fun with it. You can make it personal by using it as a journal, or you can build a blog and turn it into a business like I did.
The point is that you want to explore something new. If you have never had a blog before, creating a blog, doing the design, writing the content, etc., can be a great challenge to make your creativity flow. Plus, you want to also train your discipline to be consistent with it.
17. Start a YouTube channel
Yes, start a YouTube channel. It is easy to publish videos these days. With a great platform like YouTube and with just your mobile phone, you can be your own director and start your own video channels on the internet.
Who knows, you may become a famous and successful YouTuber. Like starting a blog, creating videos can be a good way to improve your creativity and self-confidence. I’m going to start one soon, how about you?
18. Spend more time with the people you love
This is an important goal to have. Make it your priority to build stronger and more intimate relationships with people you love. I take my Friday night as my date night with my wife. And I spend most of my weekends with my family members whenever possible. When you build an intimate relationship with people you love, you will become happier. And when you are happy, you can achieve more success in life.
19. Get a full-body medical checkup
You will never how healthy you are until you do a medical check-up. And you have to understand that prevention is always better than cure. Hence, get a full-body medical check-up once a year. I believe there are plenty of packages out there you can choose from.
20. Get rid of a bad habit
Everyone has bad habits. And it is important to get rid of our bad habits if they are not serving us. For instance, if you’re a smoker, set it as a goal to get rid of this destructive habit. If you constantly bite your nail, set it as your goal to stop doing so.
21. Make friends with someone more successful
You want to surround yourself with people who are positive and successful. You don’t want to surround yourself with mediocre people who always complain and blame others. Therefore, make more friends with other successful people. And if you’re serious in achieving greater success in life, associate yourself with people who are more successful than you are.
Remember, the people you spend the most time with says a lot about your life. Hence, if you want to be a winner, make friends with other winners. Here are 17 tips from LifeHack.org to help you expand your circle of influence.
22. Start a side project or business
Here’s another interesting goal idea you may want to have – start a side project or a business. The reason is simple – you don’t want to depend on only one source of income for the rest of your life.
With the internet, you can start an internet business easily. You can sell products online through e-commerce, you can sell your services, and you can also become an affiliate by selling other people’s products too. There are many ways how you can build an internet business, you just need to get it started.
23. Meditate and visualize the future you want every morning
Studies have proved that there are plenty of benefits of meditation. It doesn’t just help you release your stress, it also helps you focus better on getting what you want in life. Besides meditation, you can also practice visualization every morning. Imagine the success you want and see yourself living in the dream life you desire.
24. Journal and create a gratitude list
Do you know that journaling and practice gratitude can make you calm and improve your inner happiness? Chris Winfield practiced writing his gratitude list for the last 34 months, and these are the 13 things he has learned.
25. Take at least 7 hours of sleep a day
According to HelpGuide.com, on average, we need about 7 to 9 hours of sleep a day. You may think that this is a lot and you don’t want to spend so much time into sleeping because you’re busy and you want to build your business.
That’s a misconception you need to avoid. Science has discovered that people who don’t get enough sleep tend to be less productive and make more mistakes in their daily life. If you want to get more done, produce better quality work, and be more productive, then make sure you get enough sleep.
26. Regularly declutter your house and workplace
This is another important goal you should consider setting on a regular basis. When your house and workplace are in a mess, it prevents you from thinking creatively because everything is trying to get your attention. Hence, make it a habit to clean your house and organize your workplace regularly.
27. Walk 10,000 steps every day
I bet you have heard about the idea of walking 10,000 steps to keep your body healthy. Why don’t you set it as your goal then? You can easily install a pedometer app on your phone to track how many steps you have taken during the day. And if you’re yet to hit your 10,000 steps target after work, do whatever it takes to hit the target.
28. Eat more fruits and veggies
I know that eating more fruits and veggies are good for my health, but it is a big challenge for me to do it. Determine what is the portion of veggies you want to eat per day and stick to it. You can find a lot of ideas on how to eat more veggies and fruits from YouTube and Pinterest.
29. Create a budget system and stick to it
How often do you take care of your own budget and finance? If you don’t have a budget system, now’s your chance to create one. You can distribute your budget accordingly and stick to it on your daily and monthly expenses.
I suggest you read Secrets of The Millionaire Mind to learn more about money mindsets and how to manage your money properly. It is a book that I read over and over again, and I recommend you read it too.
30. Get someone to be your mentor
Yes, make it as a goal to get someone as your mentor. Choose someone who is doing much better than you and who you want to learn from. If you want to improve yourself and bring your life to the next level, you need help from others. Thus, identify who are the mentors you want to learn from and set it as your goal to engage them.
Conclusion
Goals are powerful. Setting goals is the first step in turning your dreams into reality. When you write them down, they become your commitments. When you focus and work on them, you will achieve them.
Stop living a reactive life and start making your dream life possible. And it all starts with your goals. After going through all the goal ideas here, you should have a clear picture of what kind of goals you should have.
And if you’re still unsure, I suggest you enroll in the Goal Setting Formula masterclass. It is a step-by-step course created to help you identify your goals and how you can achieve them.
So, what are the goal ideas that you have in life? What goals would you like to achieve? Do share with me in the comment section below.
I’ve been setting my goals for a long time and now I am getting results.