Mapping Your Future: Goal-Setting for Success
The question: ‘Where do you see yourself in ten years?’ can leave many spiraling.
You’re more concerned with turning your project in on time before next week, or what take-out you want to order for dinner tonight. But ten years? You can’t even think about ten months without your head spinning.
The basis of that question is goal-setting: the process of identifying and planning how you want to achieve your desired outcomes.
Goal-setting like washing some dishes or running errands are pretty common short-term goals and may not require too much thought—but long-term goals? They require you to reflect, imagine, and address whatever challenges you’re facing presently.
Is setting goals a challenge for you? Don’t worry, we have 3 tips to help you!
Tip #1 Create a Vision Board!
Sometimes, the pressure of pinpointing what you want to do and putting everything in words is overwhelming. You would rather cozy up and scroll through TikTok or binge-watch your favorite show (understandable). But creating a vision board is a fun way to think about your future! Why? Simply visualizing your future gets the gears turning and shrinks the mountain of uncertainty to a foothill of prosperity!
According to Forbes, a vision board “is typically a collage of images, words, and affirmations that represent the things you want to achieve, acquire or experience in life.”
Don’t save them just for the New Year! You can create all kinds of vision boards for whatever goals you set.
How to create a vision board:
Source some photos either through magazines, old newspapers, or from the internet that align with your vision.
You can DIY and place the images on craft paper or be digitized and use a platform like Canva to construct your board, totally up to you!
Place your vision board somewhere you will frequently view it!
Need more clarity? We got you.
Meet Alyssa, she just graduated from college and is sinking into the pit of possibilities. All of her desires such as starting her career, moving cities, and traveling race around her mind, ‘If only I could put these thoughts down somewhere’ she thinks to herself. She can! So Alyssa settles on making a vision board to not only motivate but to make her desires digestible. While scrolling on Pinterest, she gathers different photos that align with the three goals mentioned (career, moving, and traveling). She sprinkles some hobbies like painting and skateboarding to ground her and reminds her to cultivate activities and skills outside of these three goals, too! When Alyssa completes her vision board on Canva, she makes the board her desktop screensaver!
Now it serves as a daily dose of empowerment every time she opens her laptop!
Tip #2 Take Microsteps
So, maybe the entire image is what’s causing distress. You know, the outcome: the day you’re a millionaire traveling the globe and inspiring others! Or maybe you’re sitting in class, wondering where you want to be after you get your diploma. Either way—it can be way too much to process. The good news is that they’re microsteps that will move you along. Remember: baby steps will always triumph over zero steps because that’s personal growth.
Meet Nigel, he dreams of becoming an entrepreneur, creating breathtaking graphics for clients, but the problem is he’s a junior in high school and has no clue where to start. He believes his strides must be magnificent, like taking out a loan to jumpstart his business tomorrow, but, in 5th period geometry, he feels incapable. One thing Nigel must remember is that he’s not incapable, just thinking too far ahead. So when he gets home from school, Nigel writes down one thing he can do today: research schools offering Graphic Design programs.
He finds some amazing opportunities he envisions for his future, setting a goal to apply to these institutions when he graduates. Nigel continues to set daily smaller goals that feed his dream of becoming an entrepreneur!
You try it!
Think of one micro-goal, no matter how small, you can do today to work towards your macro-goal!
Tip #3 Practice self-care
Self-care: the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health.
You’ve probably heard this one before since everyone is talking about self-care. But know that self-care doesn’t always have to look like a spa day or journaling. Self-care can include steps to reframe negative thoughts and mindsets. Has anyone ever told you to be kind to yourself? To not take full responsibility for everything that “went wrong?” Keep that advice in mind when setting and navigating your goals.
Maybe you’ve been applying for jobs for months or you feel like everyone but you is making progress. The discouragement you may feel is valid and must be addressed so it won’t spiral into a tornado of pure negativity. Remember: every time you put in effort, you are making progress.
It’s okay to take breaks when creating and fulfilling your goals. Dr. Matt Glowiak, writer for Southern New Hampshire University, says that even carving out 5-minute increments for self-care is beneficial, especially if you have a busy schedule.
So, we have a self-care challenge: think of three self-care activities you can do for 5-minute intervals today!
With these 3 tips, goal-setting doesn’t have to be daunting and could be fun and investigative! We can see you confidently answering the question ‘Where do you see yourself in ten years?’ with ease!
SOURCES:
https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/health/what-is-self-care
