Area#1: Personal Goals - Explore dreams that you have always had and if they can be made into reality. Think about how you can be a better friend to yourself. Define a personality trait that you admire about another and develop ways to exhibit that trait yourself. Discover the meaning and purpose of your current life. Examine if that needs to be improved or altered. Create a recent scenario where you have interacted with others in a way that was less than desirable. Make a plan to create a more thoughtful interaction next time.
Area #2: Health Goals - Think about how long you would like to live and how you can make that happen. Verify that you are getting regular medical and dental check-ups. Examine your sleeping and eating habits to be sure you are optimizing every day to the best of your potential. Develop ways to tackle that part of health that needs to improve, whether it is exercising more, building up endurance or finally getting that blood test to reveal your cholesterol level.
Area #3: Recreation Goals - Focus on the possible new things you can add to life to make it more enjoyable, challenging and fun. Define a place you have always wanted to go and create a plan, long term or short term, to experience it. Is there a sport or activity that you have always wanted to try, such as learning an instrument or becoming a better cook? Find ways to create that reality. Also think about calmer activities such as how to incorporate meditation or "quiet time" into your day or work week to allow yourself to rejuvenate periodically.
Area #4: Family Goals - Look at yourself in relation to the impact you have on the previous generation, current generation and future generation. Explore how you can be a better supporter of your parents and their needs, your partner or confidant's needs and your children's or nieces/nephews needs. Discover some hidden talents or re-discover talents you have that you no longer use to make life better for others. Giving truly can come back to you tenfold if you let it.
Area#5: Friendship Goals - Enhance the friendships that you currently have by examining what you can do to be fully supportive of those who are currently within your friendship circle as well as any unfinished business with friends with which you are no longer in contact. Are you still bothered by not having paid John back the $50 you owed him from 15 years ago? If you can no longer reach him, why not donate that $50 to a charity in his name. Also look at what friend you would turn to in time of need. Define the qualities of that friend that make them reliable. Compare your qualities with that friend's qualities. Improve an area that stands out to you as something you would like to have that you don't currently possess.
I hope I have given you some things to think about. Things that can help make life more meaningful and more celebrated. If you take the time to examine these areas of your life, I hope that you find some inner peace with who you are but also know that you can make a choice to change some things that you want to be better. You might even learn something new about yourself.
Tune in to the next newsletter for Goals 6-10.
Until then....know that it helps to look at these areas from the Positive Perspective....
