top » talent » personal development » personal goals » life goals

59 Examples of Life Goals

John Spacey, September 25, 2020

Life goals are actionable plans for an individual's future. These are ideally process goals that describe what you will do as opposed to end-goals that describe what you will achieve. It is fine for life goals to be overly ambitious as long as they serve to get you moving in a positive direction, they can be helpful even if you never fully achieve them. Life goals can be rewritten on a regular basis and are only useful where they change your behavior. The following are illustrative examples of a life goal.

Exercise

Bicycle to work when it's not raining too hard.

Diet

Stop consuming sugary foods and beverages.

Health

Prioritize sleep by going to bed before 12 each night.

Experiences

Go to a few concerts.

Lifestyle

Take salsa dancing lessons and meet new people.

Friendship

Keep in touch with old friends.

Family

Visit parents at least once a month.

Professional

Deliver more value than anyone on the team each week to eventually become an obvious candidate for advancement.

Career

Build relationships with the sales team and pitch myself as a salesperson. End-goal: transfer to sales team, increase annual income by at least 2x.

Reliability

Arrive to work 10 minutes early each day to avoid being late.

Responsibility

Take over more household choirs.

Parenting

Help kids to improve their language skills by reading with them and encouraging them to write.

Spending & Saving

Only make purchases on ecommerce on the first few days of the month and set a budget before I buy.

Income & Revenue

Aggressively join new projects to end up with overtime pay and a good bonus.

Consumerism

Purchase a new computer that is much faster and more stable.

Fashion

Make an effort to dress better.

Appearance

Try wearing a beard in November.

Travel

Visit Europe this year.

Sports

Get out surfing this summer almost every weekend.

Adventure

Go sailing this year to explore new places.

Altruism

Volunteer at a local after-school program to help out.

Reading

Read at least one book each week.

Education

Start studying for final exams the week after midterms so that I'm not swamped at the end like last year.

Learning

Learn to code in a new programming language this month.

Language

Watch French movies and television every day to improve my comprehension.

Creativity

Produce a major painting each month this year.

Business

Improve our menu with new items that become popular. End goal: rating improvement to 4/5, revenue increase of 20% a month.

Social

Participate in more events and lunches at work to get to know more people.

Events

Connect with more local people who are into sailing by attending annual sailing events and competitions in the area.

Transportation

Switch to an electric car to reduce my contributions to local air pollution.

Productivity

Improve my toolset and work habits to finish designs in hours instead of days.

Time Management

Stop checking the news while I'm working as it's distracting and inefficient.

Breaking Habits

Stop snacking when I'm not even hungry.

Establishing Habits

Cook a real dinner each night as opposed to microwaved convenience items.

Time Boxing

Strictly no more than an hour of video games a night.

Work-Ethic

Take the time to thoroughly prepare for all meetings.

Music

Take the time to find new music I enjoy each week.

Risk Taking

Take more creative risks with our next music video.

Risk Management

Improve the emergency equipment on the boat and start wearing a life jacket when we go out.

Organization

Review all my financial transactions each month to better understand my spending patterns.

Home Improvement

Build a home office in the garden to improve my working conditions with more light and nature.

Introspection

Think about my behavior at the end of each day to identify things I could have done better.

Self-Discipline

Develop the ability to study for more than an hour at a time without any distraction or loss of concentration.

Kindness

Try to show more interest when my older neighbors engage me in conversation.

Likability

Try to see the positives in everyone, even if I find them difficult or unappealing.

Talents

Find opportunities to take photos each day to develop as a photographer.

Public Speaking

Overcome my fear of public speaking by giving more presentations and finding more opportunities to speak.

Reputation

Improve my reputation by disengaging from endless trivial debate in social media and focusing on my real life.

Fame

Collaborate with more up-and-coming artists to produce more music that gets noticed.

Personality

Try to be more patient with people.

Thinking

Try not to make assumptions about people based on their appearance.

Personal Resilience

Engage more in office politics to increase my resilience to stress.

Gratitude

Try to think of some things that I am grateful for at the end of each day.

Confidence

Learn to stop comparing myself to others so much.

Humor

Try to see the humor in misfortune to avoid negative emotions such as anger.

Play

Take more time to play with my kids each day.

Freedom

Save money and take a gap-year two years from now.

Quality of Life

Move to an apartment with better air quality further from a highway, port or industrial site.

People & Planet

Push my local representative for laws and policies that will reduce pollution in a meaningful way.

Notes

Remaining silent about life goals may increase the chance that you will actually achieve them as communicating goals can be a form of virtue signaling that boosts your ego but decreases motivation to actually achieve the goal.

Overview: Life Goals
Type	Personal Goals
Definition	Actionable plans for an individual's future.
Related Concepts	Personal Goals » Process Goals » End-Goals » Personal Resilience » Air Quality » Silent Goal »