Lifetime Personal Goal Considerations
Personal goals are the fun things we want to do with our lives.
Preamble
If we were meeting together in a virtual or live session, we would again be going over the goal-setting process. Why is that? Because as I’ve shown you, repetition is an effective way to learn, and we know that when we hear things at least three times, we are more likely to remember them. I’m not going to do that here, but if you want to review the goal-setting process, you can look at any or all of the past blogs on the Blog tab at the website.
Introduction
Personal goals are the fun things we want to do with our lives. Some people “work to live”, and others “live to work”. Which camp are you in?
As with most things in life, there is a balance among the various aspects of our lives that we strive to achieve. Balance between work and fun, spending money today versus saving for retirement.
But let’s face it, enjoying life on our own terms is really what it is all about. As much as I enjoyed my 42-year professional career (50 if you count that I started working at 12, delivering newspapers and mowing lawns), the fact is that it’s the off-duty time that we all really work for. And this is a reason I advocate retiring early while you are still healthy enough to enjoy all the fruits of your labor. My original retirement goal was to retire at age 55. I didn’t quite make it, but I could have retired at age 56 had I chosen to. It just did not feel right to me, so I continued working until a few days before my 62nd birthday. For me and my circumstances, that was just the right time. Our plan was for Diane to retire shortly thereafter at 62, as she is only 6 weeks younger than I am, such that essentially we would retire at the same time. Well, the circumstances of her job were such that it was beneficial for her and her employer to continue to work for another year, so that is what she did. Still, we both feel blessed to have been able to retire when we did. Early retirement is a great time to enjoy travel and other activities while you can afford it and are healthy.
A couple of personal notes to make the point. When I was a child, my grandfather on my mother’s side always used to tell me, “When I retire, I’ll take you fishing.” Well, I grew up, and within months of his retirement, he experienced a major medical event, and he passed away a short time later. Secondly, I recently met someone I had worked with and had not seen in over 10 years. She loves to travel, as we do, but being single, it is more difficult to find someone to travel with her. The biggest problem, as she stated, is “finding someone who can walk.” I think you see the point. Don’t wait too long to do the things you enjoy because later may not come in the manner you wish.
If you are a FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) kind of person, I say more power to you! I really never fit into that lifestyle, but I sure do admire those who do! Check out the link in Note 1 if you want to learn more.
Balance and enjoying the ride
With our financial and professional goals, we were building plans that ensured we were on a path toward a secure retirement. Later, we will talk more about balance, but balance among all things is important. We should also enjoy the ride from here to there. This is one of the aspects of FIRE that has concerned me: it’s almost total dedication to one's profession and the pursuit of “make it,” which I could not embrace. Now, I’ll be the first to tell you that for most of my career, my workweek was 50 to 60 hours, sometimes more, but to say I want to work 70 or 80 hours a week for ten years as I save enough to retire may be a bridge too far.
So working hard toward a secure future is a great thing to do, but we do need to enjoy rest and relaxation time along the way. I’m going to say something that we all know to be true, just to say that it was stated and beg your indulgence: There are folks who have this equation backwards; they want to play first and work later. I’m guessing that if you have stuck with me for this long, you are not one of those, but getting the work/play order out of whack can tend to be a bad thing. If you are confused by this statement, stop for a bit and think about why it at least needs to be pointed out. Maybe even speak to some successful people you know and ask their thoughts.
Personal goal examples
Because we are creatures of habit, it may be difficult to determine what personal goals my be outside of what we are doing today. Let me list a few examples and see if you see anything that piques your interest:
Improve our relationships and/or communication skills.
Develop a new hobby.
Exercise.
Improve our health.
Cook and eat at home more.
Buy a car.
Pay for a child’s education.
Travel.
Buy a new house.
Ditch bad habits; Develop good habits.
Use your time more wisely.
Cut down on your screen time!
Read more.
Contribute your time and talents to others.
This is a very high-level list to get you thinking for now. In a little bit, we’ll dig in more, and it’s at that time that we can start refining them and planning to accomplish them. Why is that? So you can achieve your dreams and live your best life, that’s why! But you already know that!
Principles of success and achievement
I hope you’ve read everything written by Napoleon Hill, especially his 100-year-old book, The Law of Success (Note 2). I’ve included this reference and list under the personal goals section, but they are really useful for everything in life. Let’s look at them (Note 3):
Definiteness of purpose: Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. Without a purpose and a plan, people drift aimlessly through life.
Mastermind alliance: “The mastermind principle” consists of an alliance of two or more minds working in perfect harmony for the attainment of a common, definite objective. Success does not come without the cooperation of others.
Applied faith: Faith is a state of mind through which your aims, desires, plans, and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalent.
Going the extra mile: Going the extra mile is the action of rendering more and better service than that for which you are presently paid. When you go the extra mile, the Law of Compensation comes into play.
Pleasing personality: Personality is the sum total of one’s mental, spiritual, and physical traits and habits, and distinguishes one from all others. It is the factor that determines whether one is liked or disliked by others.
Personal initiative: Personal initiative is the power that inspires the completion of that which one begins. It is the power that starts all action. No person is free until they learn to do their own thinking and gain the courage to act on their own.
Positive mental attitude: Positive mental attitude is the right mental attitude in all circumstances. Success attracts more success-but so may failure, depending on how you use and learn from it.
Enthusiasm: Enthusiasm is faith in action. It is the intense emotion we know as burning desire. It comes from within, although it radiates outwardly in the expression of one’s voice and countenance.
Self-discipline: Self-discipline begins with the mastery of thought. If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs. Self-discipline calls for a balancing of the emotions of your heart with the reasoning faculty of your head.
Accurate thinking: The power of thought is the most dangerous or the most beneficial power available to you, depending on how you use it.
Controlled attention: Controlled attention leads to mastery in any type of human endeavor, because it enables one to focus on the powers of their mind upon the attainment of a definite objective and to keep it so directed at will.
Teamwork: Teamwork is harmonious cooperation that is willing, voluntary, and free. Whenever the spirit of teamwork is the dominating influence in business or industry, success is inevitable. Harmouious cooperation is a priceless asset that you can acquire in proportion to your giving.
Adversity and defeat: Individual success is usually in exact proportion of the scope of defeat the individual has experienced and mastered. Many so-called failures represent only a temporary defeat that may prove to be a blessing in disguise.
Creative vision: Creative vision is developed by the free and fearless use of one’s imagination. It is not a miraculous quality one is gifted or not gifted at birth.
Health: Sound health begins with sound health consciousness, just as financial success begins with a prosperity consciousness.
Budgeting time and money: Time and money are precious resources, and few people striving for success ever believe they possess either one in excess.
Habits: Developing and establishing positive habits leads to peace of mind, health and financial security. You are where you are because of your established habits, thoughts and deedss
So whether you consider these principles applicable for personal goals or not, it’s worthwhile to study and learn them so get the book and read it. OK?
The Cost of lifetime personal goals
Most everything has a cost. Some goals cost little to nothing in terms of money and reap big personal rewards. Others cost more and may or may not bring the same rewards.
Here are some low-cost personal goals:
Reading more
Gardening
Some exercise programs
Cook and eat at home more
Relationship building
Taking a self-improvement class
Here are some higher-cost personal goals:
Travel
Buy a new house
College education funding
Buy a Corvette
You see, I have listed buying a Corvette as a goal. Well, there’s a story about that I want to tell you. When I was about 14, I started getting interested in cars and started buying hot rod magazines. At that time, all I knew was I wanted a Corvette. I ended up hot-rodding my 1969 Chevelle before I entered the Air Force, but I still wanted that Corvette. Well, life got busy with work and family, but I still wanted the Corvette. I set a goal to buy one when I was 50 years old. When 50 came, we were really busy with kids in college, work and life and while I probably could have bought the Corvette, it just did not seem like the thing to do. So, I readjusted my goal to 55. Then came 55 and all I could think about was retirement. I could have swung buying it at that time, but it just did not seem like the practical thing to do. Well, lo and behold, my daughter bought a new 2016 Corvette. Before me! Can you imagine? As of this writing, she has bought 3 and I’m keeping her 2023 Corvette in my garage while she is deployed in Germany. Want to hear the funny thing? While I enjoy driving hers, I really don’t want my own anymore. But I carried that goal, that dream for almost 50 years!
In the next session we are going to brainstorm our personal goals. As we do that, keep in mind that for a personal goal to be fulfilling, it does not have to cost a lot. Sometimes wanting to obtain something is more fun than actually obtaining it. Like having a Corvette!
For example, one of Diane and my favorite vacations is to sit on a beach in the Caribbean and just read books. OK, it costs some money to get there and stay there, but after that, it’s pretty cheap and for us, a very fulfilling vacation.
As you have developed your financial and personal goals, you’ve probably started to develop conflicts among them or thought “How can I do all of these things?”
Don’t get worried that you appear to have a lot of conflicts, we’ll start to work that out soon.
Summary
I’ll make this short and sweet. As much as we enjoy, and even need work, life is about a lot more than work. I think we will all feel the same. But just like financial and personal goals, unless we plan for them, one day we will wake up and find that time has passed us by and we never did do the things we wanted to do. Be sure that does not happen to you!
That’s all for this week!
Personal Goals are Fun Things We Want to Do
Afterburner Success Partners
http://absuccesspartners.com/
What’s in it for me?
If you want to get ahead in life, if you want to achieve your dreams and live your best life, you must take meaningful, deliberate action that follows a proven path. Getting ahead in business and your career is about learning what to do and then doing it over time.
Call to Action
Just. Do. Something. Make a decision on what you want or need to do, define the path, and get after it. Do it today.
Recommended Resources
See notes below for either of my books.
Up Next
Brainstorming personal goals.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
FIRE Explained: Financial Independence, Retire Early-Rules, Types and Planning, Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/financial-independence-retire-early-fire.asp
The Law of Success by Napoleon Hill: https://amzn.to/48ZqM5x
Napoleon Hill’s 17 principles of success; success.com: https://www.success.com/napoleon-hills-17-principles-of-personal-achievement
Achieve Your Dreams: A Complete Guide to Live Your Best Life, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/3IxEFgy
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us, by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/437OhVQ