How to set healthy goals?

Goal gentle-setting

Setting a goal for the year it’s important, but we need to be cautious about the intention behind it. Reaching goals doesn’t not mean achieving happiness, they are more about the compass than the finish line. Besides that, we tend to plan to control things, even though we don’t have any power to change the course of it.

The chapter “Surrender” from The Great Wave, a report from The House of Beautiful Business, says that

“Plans are stories we tell ourselves to maintain our illusion of control. In truth, there isn’t much to manage. We can navigate, make sense, respond, and to a certain degree, help shape events, but we are never fully in control. Far better, then, to surrender."

But we still have dreams. We want to learn new things, explore different professional paths, dedicate time to something special and so on. If we don’t plan that, it probably won’t happen. So, one way of doing it is:

Set a goal or intention for the year. Define a word or mantra to guide your efforts, your north star. It would be nice to put that in a place where you can see often;‍
Every month think about one big movement that you can do to keep that in motion, plus 2 or 3 small projects that you’d like to accomplish personally or professionally;‍
Take time to reflect and celebrate the wins. Every month, before setting the new goals, take a couple minutes to make a list of your accomplishments for the month that just ended. Do not omit the small things, you’ll be surprised with all that you have done. One nice tool is a board when you add one photo per month. It’s amazing and deeply fulfilling to see your mural at the end of the year, with special memories to celebrate that only you will understand.

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