How Do You Set and Achieve Personal Goals for Happiness?
Discovering the secret to setting and achieving personal goals that lead to true happiness can be elusive, so we’ve gathered insights from CEOs and Founders to light the way. From setting milestones for long-term goals to following a four-step plan for happiness, explore the nine diverse strategies these experts employ to enhance their well-being and happiness.
- Set Milestones for Long-Term Goals
- Use Systematic Strategy for Personal Goals
- Create a Detailed Happiness Roadmap
- Embrace Uncertainty and Adapt Goals
- Choose Goals With Emotional Fulfillment
- Overcome Limiting Beliefs for Happiness
- Align Goals With Core Values
- Find Balance With Personal Health Goals
- Follow a Four-Step Plan for Happiness
Set Milestones for Long-Term Goals
I like to set a goal with a timeline and work my way backward to set specific milestones as I work toward the goal. For example, I’d like to retire early. By knowing when I want to retire and with how much, I can work backward and set milestones throughout the years.
This contributes to my happiness because I genuinely love progress and being able to see that I am reaching the goals that I have set for myself. Saving money can feel as good as spending it when you have set up these goals as your markers of success.
Kristine Thorndyke
Co-Founder, TEFL Hero
Use Systematic Strategy for Personal Goals
My method for setting and achieving personal goals that contribute to my happiness involves a deliberate and systematic strategy. Reflecting on my own experiences, I initiate the process by clearly defining specific and realistic goals that resonate with my values and aspirations.
From my perspective, I dissect these objectives into smaller, manageable tasks, constructing a roadmap for success. In our team, we typically underscore the significance of establishing measurable milestones to monitor progress.
In my journey, having encountered similar situations before, I give priority to regular self-reflection for assessing achievements and making necessary adjustments. Based on my expertise, this approach guarantees a well-rounded and gradual method to goal-setting, nurturing a sense of accomplishment, and contributing to my overall happiness.
Nick Edwards
Managing Director, Snowfinders
Create a Detailed Happiness Roadmap
To set and achieve personal goals that lead to happiness, identify what you want to achieve. Be specific about your objectives. Make sure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Develop a detailed plan outlining the steps required to reach your goals. Having a roadmap helps you stay on track. Create a plan with all the steps you need to reach your goals. It’s important to maintain a positive attitude, celebrate small wins, and learn from your challenges.
Faizan Khan
PR and Content Marketing Specialist, Ubuy Australia
Embrace Uncertainty and Adapt Goals
Be open-minded and willing to adapt or change goals if unexpected opportunities or paths arise. Uncertainty can lead to greater happiness and fulfillment. Regularly reassess goals to ensure alignment with evolving priorities.
For example, let’s say you initially set a goal to become a lawyer, but during your journey, you discover a passion for entrepreneurship. Embracing uncertainty, you explore new possibilities and pivot your goals to start a business. This newfound path brings you immense joy and fulfillment, showcasing the power of embracing uncertainty.
Ben Lau
Founder, Featured SEO Company
Choose Goals With Emotional Fulfillment
Emotional mapping involves reflecting on your emotions and setting goals that align with activities or experiences that bring you joy and fulfillment. For example, if spending quality time with loved ones makes you happy, set a goal to prioritize family time each week.
By focusing on activities that evoke positive emotions, you create a pathway to personal happiness through your goals. This approach ensures that your goals are closely tied to what truly matters to you on an emotional level, leading to a greater sense of fulfillment and happiness when you achieve them.
Roy Lau
Co-Founder, 28 Mortgage
Overcome Limiting Beliefs for Happiness
Identify and challenge any limiting beliefs or negative self-talk that may hinder your progress. Replace them with empowering thoughts and beliefs that support your goals and happiness.
By actively addressing mindset and overcoming self-imposed barriers, individuals can unlock their true potential for happiness. For example, if someone believes they are not intelligent enough to achieve a certain goal, they can challenge this belief by seeking evidence of their intelligence and focusing on their strengths.
Through this process, they can replace self-doubt with confidence and take steps toward their goal with a positive mindset.
Yoana Wong
Co-Founder, Secret Florists
Align Goals With Core Values
My method for setting and achieving personal goals involves aligning them with my core values and breaking them down into manageable tasks.
I focus on goals that resonate with my interests, track progress through milestones, and maintain a balance between professional and personal well-being.
Regular self-reflection ensures these goals stay aligned with my evolving aspirations, contributing to my overall happiness.
Jon James
CEO, Ignited Results
Find Balance With Personal Health Goals
Balance it all out. If you’re like me, you may work too much and lack the right balance in your life. I eventually hit a point where I realized how toxic this was and made some changes. For me, that change was prioritizing one of my greatest personal goals: getting in shape.
In the same way, I organized my work schedule, I meticulously developed and scheduled a manageable workout routine. I started getting healthy and happy and produced better results at work than when I spent more time working and neglecting myself.
Christopher Olson
Chief Financial Officer, Surfside Services, LLC
Follow a Four-Step Plan for Happiness
Being a tech CEO, my way to set personal goals and achieve them for my happiness is fourfold: brainstorm, crystallize, pursue, and celebrate. I start with an open-ended brainstorming session, where I spill out my desires, passions, and forthcoming company goals.
With this broad spectrum, I pinpoint what excites me the most and what is best for the company. This is where crystallization comes in—honing down to the most viable and fulfilling goals, which will drive both my growth and the company’s success.
Then, the pursuit phase sets in. Here, I throw myself completely into the plans, ensuring I overcome any hurdles with character and maintaining a positive drive. Finally, I celebrate. Not just the achievement, but the journey. It is this balance of self-growth, company welfare, and joy in the journey that makes me happiest.
Abid Salahi
Co-Founder and CEO, FinlyWealth
Submit Your Answer
Would you like to submit an alternate answer to the question, “What is your method for setting and achieving personal goals that contribute to your happiness?”
