After I've got specific, measurable and realistic goals, I write goals into 4 different categories. My categories are: physical, emotional, social and spiritual. I do this because I want to improve in several ways, and in each component of who I am.
Physical goals are goals relating to my physical well-being (this could include fitness, financial, health, etc).
Emotional goals aid in maturing who you are. A goal in this category could include giving service to one person each day (or month, or week - whatever works for you). For me, emotional goals are the hardest to make measurable. Something like "be kinder" is not measurable. So think "what do kind people do?" Do kind people give more compliments? Smile more often? Okay, now we are getting somewhere! How about "Give a compliment to someone each day". Specific, and measurable. :)
Social goals are also hard to measure. I like to think "What do people who are social do?" Well, people who are social make contact with other people regularly (and there is a goal! Make contact with someone outside of my immediate family at least once a day/week/month - remember, this needs to be realistic for YOU).
Spiritual goals are going to be different depending on how you view spirituality. For me, spiritually is related to religious practices. So a goal could be "attend church services weekly/monthly/etc." or "read scriptures all the way through", or "pray each morning". Each of these things will create spiritual growth.
I always write my goals in my journal (my journal is a college rule notebook), and make a chart that looks like this (and yes, in my journal the lines are just as crooked):
Then I put at least a couple goals in each category.
For example, this year, I want to become more physically fit (this is not a measurable goal, so I don't write that). I decided a way to do this is to run a marathon. Under physical goals I write "Run a marathon".
There are some goals that could be in a couple different categories, so I pick the one that makes most sense to me. After all, this is MY journal, and MY goals. No one else will critique them. A goal of "Save $1000" could either be a physical goal (since money is physical), a emotional goal (having it makes you feel safe), or a spiritual goal (if you are in a better place spiritually as a result of reaching this goal). For me, I'd put that goal in the physical category. But, this is up to you. Do what feels natural for you!
I like to look at my "bucket list" and see which of those things I want to accomplish that year. Be careful to avoid goals that include another person to accomplish them (such as "have a baby, get married, become better friends with Xperson).
This year, I want to learn to play guitar better (I just started!). The first step is a physical goal - purchase a guitar. The next goal is "learn to play all the chords" (I'm going to call this a physical goal too).
I'm curious to what types of goals my readers are setting! Please comment, and let me know. If you need help making it measurable, I'd be happy to help. :)
