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Creating a Meaningful Goal

© Elizabeth Trego

Last month we learned the importance of goals and some of the common pitfalls that can occur. If you're still unclear as to a specific goal you want, the following exercise was created with you in mind.

Using the following framework, take a moment to think about the aspects of your life that you find to be personally important. Family, relationships with friends, work, pets, etc. may well find a place on this list. You may also choose to list activities such as a re-location, a completely new career path, a vacation, or increased income as important issues.

Whatever you choose to list, place the eight most important aspects/goals in your life in the spaces provided below. At this time, there is no particular ranking order; you're just trying to get a concrete list of your ideas.

1._______________________________________________

2._______________________________________________

3._______________________________________________

4._______________________________________________

5._______________________________________________

6._______________________________________________

7._______________________________________________

8._______________________________________________

To really get you to think about what is important in your life, now take the five aspects you value most and rank those in order of importance.

1._______________________________________________

2._______________________________________________

3._______________________________________________

4._______________________________________________

5._______________________________________________

Next, take the three most valued aspects out of the five that you listed and rank those in order of importance

1._______________________________________________

2._______________________________________________

3._______________________________________________

Finally, out of those three, pick the one aspect in your life that you feel you could not live without.

1._______________________________________________

If this exercise is completed correctly, you should have felt great frustration and difficulty in trying to eliminate aspects of their life that they previously thought were important. Oftentimes individuals will list wealth, fame or other external aspects in life as important. However, when forced to choose what's really important, suddenly those aspects drop away and one is left with the fundamentals in life. By focusing on the one aspect of life that someone cherishes most, you can begin to prioritize your focus on life and perhaps give yourself a new direction.

Oftentimes, people aren't aware of what they actually feel is truly important to them because they get caught up in so many outside activities that it becomes difficult to stay clear on their values and goals. School, work, the need to earn an income, bills, mortgages, children, etc. seem to overcome a person and the Race of Life begins.

Once you get into this race, it can seem overwhelming, and the anxiety about which direction in life to take begins to creep into one's thoughts. You may also be currently at the point where you feel trapped by your life and wonder how you'll ever get out of a present predicament.

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