Annual Goal Setting
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
I’ve counselled several employees and friends on how to successfully set annual and multi-year goals, and I’ve guided and advised them through planning and visualization exercises to aid in the successful achievement of those goals. I help people manifest the lives they want and turn their dreams into reality.
For the past six years, I’ve drawn my annual goals and hung them in my home. This practice has helped me make progress on everything from replacing my washer and dryer to finalizing my divorce. Having my goals, a vision for my future, displayed in a place where I can see them every day is also a gentle reminder that I’m moving forward, even when it feels hard.
Below you will find a 5 step, quick-start guide to annual goal setting. I hope it helps you identify and accomplish things that bring joy and meaning to your days and nights; I hope it helps you bring your dreams to life.
5 Step, Quick-Start Guide to Annual Goal Setting
Every year, in December as the days get darker and year wanes, I start a list in my notebook of the things I’d like to accomplish in the coming year. It’s not about resolutions or rapid or drastic change, it’s about the future I want and how to get there. I read somewhere that if you draw or visualize your goals, you are more likely to achieve them.
1. Start with Categories
Come up with some high level categories or areas of focus. These are categories that work for me and are molded around my life. Some of these will likely work for you but really think about what is most important to you, and shape your categories (and goals) around what matters.
Heath (or Wellness)
House
Kids
Friends (and Family)
Money
Work (or Career)
Books
Writing
Travel
Next, start to outline a few things in each category. Keep it high level and give yourself a week or so of revisiting this list and adding to it. I suggest writing it in your journal, in a notebook, or digitally scribing a list on your phone or computer. Here are some ideas for things to include in each category:
Heath (or Wellness): sleep, hydration, exercise, therapy, reduce time on devices (This is almost always the most important category for me.) Taking good care of myself allows me to do all the rest of the things I hope to accomplish.
House: projects, renovations, improvements, maintenance (These may be things you HAVE to do, like replace a roof but best to plan for them!)
Kids: lessons, sports, events or activities, major milestones, trips (I like to have a goal focused on the kids and I usually ask them if they have anything they want to accomplish. Cora said “gymnastics lessons” and Otto said “I want to learn to be a ninja” so I’m looking into martial arts.)
Friends (and Family): special occasions, holidays, events, trips (One year I put my birthday party, but a wedding or other special event would qualify; one year it was my divorce.)
Money: savings goal, budgeting, other (I usually have at least one financial goal.)
Work (or Career): major milestones, promotion, career change (Because I also do annual planning and goal setting at work, I often leave this a bit lighter on my personal goals.)
Books: # of books, (virtual) book club, type of books (I want to read more, whether that’s listening to audio books or reading an actual, tangible book. But the goal is more focused on consuming diverse content so it could be podcasts or articles or something else.)
Writing: time spent writing per week, blog or social posts, content calendar (Writing is important to me but you may have a music goal or a more specific exercise category. Do your thing!)
Travel: big trips, little trips (This has been tough during the pandemic but I love to travel and hope to someday resume this hobby in a more meaningful way.)
2. Get SMART!
“My goals were pretty dumb before Brooke helped me get my shit together.”
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable (or Achievable), Relevant, and Time-bound (or Timely). So now it’s time to really put pen to paper on what you want to do, by when, and how you’re going to measure success.
Here’s how I turned my health category ideas this year into SMART Goals.
Hydration: Drink an average of 48oz of water every day (record water consumption daily and average over weeks, months, year) – the goal is to drink 48oz a day but I’m acknowledging that some days will be more and some days will be less by calculating an average
Sleep: Sleep an average of 8hrs per night (recorded daily, calculate weekly
Exercise: Spend 3hrs per week walking, hiking, stretching, etc. (measured by a time tracker I created using Google Forms)
Food: Eat breakfast every day (tracked using a “Morning Practice” Google Form I created)
3. Track, measure, and analyze progress to goals!
Being able to measure progress to goals, and course correct if needed, is one of the most important steps toward achieving what you set out to accomplish. Here’s how I’m doing it this year:
I built two Daily Practice quizzes (Google Forms) and added them to the home screen on my phone. I also built a spending and time tracker to measure other goals. I put them all in the same folder on my home screen.
Simple Google Form to keep me accountable on my Morning Practice
This is the folder I created on the home screen of my phone. It has links to each of my trackers. Quick and easy tracking at my fingertips!
Simple Google Form to keep me accountable on my Evening Practice
I bought a device (Garmin vivosmart 4, link below) to help track sleep. The device also allows me to easily track water consumption, and gives me other useful metrics on my body.
Sleep tracking with the Garmin vivosmart 4
Hydration tracking with the Garmin vivosmart 4
4. Pick a theme!
I do this after I’ve started to outline my goals. Some kind of theme usually emerges. 2020 was “Chill the Fuck Out” because 2019 had been a whirlwind year for me and I needed to focus on stability. Also, there was a global pandemic so “Chill the Fuck Out” was pretty spot on. In 2021, like everyone else who hoped to emerge victorious from the dumpster fire of a year that 2020 turned out to be, I chose “Phoenix Rising” as my theme. It was also personal because, in addition to the pandemic, I’d suffered a series of losses in the years leading up to 2020 and was still grieving and processing, adjusting to a new and different life than I’d planned. My theme for 2022 is “Into the Unknown.” Yes, from Frozen 2. I’m embracing the unknown and leaning into the discomfort of uncertainty.
Chill the fuck out 2020!!!
2021 Phoenix Rising
2022 Into the Unknown
5. Visualize and see your goals, every day!
On or around January 1st, I begin to draw my goals. This year I drew and colored while sitting in in front of the fire, and video chatting with a friend. It took three hours. Last year I drew and colored while I was on conference calls. Keeping my hands busy seems to make me a better listener and more active participant on calls where I’m not responsible for taking notes. I know three hours sounds like a big time commitment but you don’t have to spend that long on it. Remember, these are for you. They can be scratch pencil drawings with no color if that’s more approachable.
The drawing doesn’t have to detail every aspect of every goal, it’s an exercise to remind you about the spirit or the essence your goals, your theme, and the power that you have inside of yourself to make your dreams come true.
I hang my goals in my bedroom so I see them every day. When I was married, our goals hung in our walk-in closet. Yes, I used to draw our shared goals. It was beautiful. Hang your goals in a place you’ll see every day that isn’t a public or shared space. Again, these goals are for you. I mean, if you want to proudly display them in a shared space you definitely should. I won’t stop you! I’m just recommending that you display them somewhere that feels right for you.
Now go set some goals, make some magic, and make your dreams come true!
