The Other Kind Of Goal Setting

Sure it’s been done before and sure it’s been said before. But it’s here today because it’s an important part of achieving your professional goals. If professional goals are your yin, then what I’m about to suggest is your yang. What is it? It’s your list of non professional goals. Goals of things to do or accomplish that have nothing to do with your career. Many people refer to this list as their bucket list. Or you can call it your to-do wish list or any of a host of other names that you want. But the important part to remember is that it is designed to create balance in your life.

Anything that is done to excess without balance, including setting and achieving professional goals, will ultimately come back to bite you. The balance of having other things in your life aside from your professional goals will help you enjoy your life more and appreciate your professional goals when they are accomplished.

So what exactly is a bucket list?

The name was coined as a list of things that you want to accomplish before you kick the bucket. And as charming as that concept can be, its importance is none-the-less the reason for creating it. If nothing else, it reminds us that whether you’re 22 or 52 or 82, life is limited. Making sure you get the things done that you want is part of what makes life worth living.

So how do you make a bucket list? There isn’t one set way but here are the basics. Think about some of the things that you want to do or accomplish, not including any professional goals. The fun things. Places you want to visit, people you want to meet, or activities you want to do. Maybe there is something you want to learn and you’ll need to take a class, or you want to volunteer somewhere or go snorkeling and swim with the dolphins. Any particular place you want to travel or play golf?

There is no right or wrong when you write a bucket list. Its purpose is to redirect you and allow you to live more and experience more, so life isn’t all about work and survival. We are fortunate to live in a country with so much abundance. There are opportunities all around us to live more but we often get so caught up in the day-to-day grind and forget to live. Sure achieving professional goals is important. But a life filled only with professional goals would be rather boring. Combine it with fun, exciting and rewarding experiences and let those experiences be a part of your life as well.

If you’re thinking of starting a bucket list, and I highly recommend it, don’t wait until you think you have enough things to put on the list. Start it right now…even with just one thing that you want to do. Add to your list anytime you think of something. Don’t be worried about how far fetched your idea is. Be creative. Creativity helps achieve your professional goals too! And as you begin to do some of the things on your list, cross them off and write more. Because a life filled with happiness and achievement, is a life well lived.

So go out and live the dream!