I know you have heard about the importance of setting goals and the benefits of having goals, but here’s the question, what kind of goals should you set?
Should you start with a career goal, a financial goal, or a health goal? Well, in this guide, we will talk about the top 5 goals everyone should set for 2022.
If you have no idea what kind of goals you should set for the new year, you should consider having these 5 targets to guide you throughout the year…
1. Health and Fitness
The first and most important goal you should set is to take good care of your health. You don’t want to be the richest man in the graveyard. This is why taking care of yourself is crucial.
In fact, if you don’t have good health, it will be difficult for you to excel and do great in other areas of your life too.
So, how do you take good care of your overall wellbeing? Simple, start with these 2 activities:
- Eat healthier and more nutritious foods, and
- Exercise and move your body more.
And you want to make sure you have an action plan for doing both of these.
To kick-start a healthy diet plan, you can start with the easiest step of all, which is to take a supplement like vitamins every day. Set an alarm to remind yourself to do so each day until it becomes a habit.
As for your exercise plan, always start small. You don’t have to hit the gym or jog every day, but at least do it twice a week. You should start small so that you can adapt better to make exercise your routine.
Most people find it hard to make exercise a habit because they overwhelmed themselves with an exercise routine that they can’t keep up with.
Never let that happen to you. Start small so that the resistance is low and you can always adjust and expand your plan once you feel comfortable about it.
Read: Why Start Small? The 5 Important Benefits of Starting Small
2. Debt-Free or Savings
The second goal you should set for the new year is this – getting debt-free. That’s right, you don’t want to be in debt, especially bad debt, like credit cards and personal loans.
The problem with most people is that they procrastinate on paying off their debts. They’d rather choose to save the cash than to pay off their debts.
But I’m here to tell you that getting debt-free is one of the most significant feelings you can experience. When you have no debt, that’s the real freedom. Having debt means that you will have the commitment and you need to pay every month.
This is especially burdensome and stressful if you are on a fixed salary and you have to pay a high monthly commitment that will take away a large chunk of your earnings. Leaving you nothing to spend by the end of the month.
So, start a plan to get rid of debts. If you have $50,000 credit card debts, start a plan to pay them down. Even if by the end of the year, you settle only half the amount, that’s a milestone you should celebrate because you are making progress. And the following years will be getting better.
What if you don’t have any debts? Well then, start a saving plan.
Set aside a certain portion of your earnings every month and put them into a savings account. However, you must make sure there is an objective for your savings.
Regardless of whether you are saving to buy a new house or to make an investment, you need to have an objective for your savings plan.
Why? Because without an objective, you will never have the drive to keep saving every month, and worse, you will use the money you saved because you have lost the focus.
Therefore, in this new year, make it a plan to become debt-free, or if you are already debt-free, start a saving plan.
If you want to learn more about financial success, I strongly suggest you read this book from Harv Eker, called Secrets of the Millionaire Mind…
3. Pursue a Passionate Career or Side Hustle
That’s right, the third goal you should have is to pursue a passionate career or a side hustle.
Why? Simple, you are going to spend a large chunk of time on your work, so why not pursue something that you are passionate about?
But what if your work doesn’t excite you and you hate your job? Well then, start a side hustle. You don’t have to leave your job right away, but you must start doing something that you love that gives you meaning every day.
When you are doing something that you love, you will never find it stressful or hate to go to the office. Your work will become a calling and every morning, you will wake up feeling excited to go to work.
Just like what Seth Godin once said:
“Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”
I have also seen people say that you need to have 3 hobbies in life…
- One to make you healthy,
- One to keep you creative, and
- One to make you money.
When your work is something you are passionate about, you will become creative and can’t wait to work on it. Not only that, but your work will also make you money.
The problem most people face is that they fail to find their passion or develop a passion for their work. Don’t worry, here are some guides to help…
- 7 Clear Signs That You Have Discovered Your Passion in Life
- How To Live Life With Passion And Purpose
- 5 Steps to Help You Figure Out Your Passion
4. Master a New Skill or Build a New Habit
The fourth goal you should set in the new year is to master a skill or to develop a new habit.
We all know that personal development is important, and the only way to develop yourself to become better is to master a skill that is important to you in life.
Whether it is to learn how to code, to play the guitar, or how to paint, learning something new will always benefit your life down the path.
Here’s a list of new skills you should consider mastering:
- Public speaking
- Meditation
- Negotiation
- Financial management
- Time management
- Writing skills
- Check out this list of 48 life skills everyone should learn.
Besides, you may also want to develop a new habit. The only way to change your life and to live better is through developing habits that will make your life better.
If you want to win your life, you must win your day. Hence, begin each day with productive habits that are helpful to you and what you want to achieve in your life.
For instance, developing the habit of exercising for just 15 minutes each morning after you awake may not seem like such a huge deal, and it is something that everyone can do. But if you maintain this small habit for a year, it will have a great impact on your life.
You will have more energy, you will start your day with better productivity, and this will definitely change your life in a huge way over a sustained period.
These are some of the resources you want to check out:
- These 10 Micro Habits Will Improve and Change Your Life
- 11 Best Morning Habits To Adopt If You Want To Be Productive
- 31 Daily Good Habits: The List that Improves the Quality of Your Life
And I also suggest you get this book and read it right away. It will change your life…
5. Leave a Positive Impact
Kevin Kruse once said:
“Life is about making an impact, not making an income.”
If you want to live a great life, you must learn to serve. Give when you get, teach what you learn.
This is also one of the reasons I started this blog. I want to share my experience and thoughts to inspire you to pursue your dream and live a better life.
So, this year, make is a commitment to teach and help others to elevate their lives. Serve your clients better, give your customers more than they expected, and in return, you will live a successful too.
When your mission is to serve and help others, you will become intrinsically motivated. In my previous article, I shared an experiment conducted by Adam Grant and his team, where they discovered that employees at a university’s call center who got to learn how their work could positively impact the students, became more willing to work harder and their performance increased.
When you know what you do is going to positively impact others and make their lives better, you will do better and work harder too.
So, set a goal to leave a positive impact this year. Even if it is a small act of kindness, do it. Or if you are committed, make it a plan to better serve and help others. Give back to your communities and make the world a better place.
Here are 8 ways how you can create a positive impact every day from Inc.com.
Conclusion
These are the top 5 goals you should set for 2022…
- A goal to keep you fit and healthy.
- A goal to become debt-free or start a saving plan.
- A goal to pursue a passionate career or side hustle.
- A goal to master a skill or develop a new habit.
- A goal to make a positive impact to the world.
These 5 goals will make your year colorful and meaningful. And if you want to learn more about setting and achieving your goals, check out my ultimate guide here.