"If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there”. —Lewis Carroll
"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else”. —Yogi Berra
We are far enough into the new year that most of our “new year’s resolution” have either taken hold or have been forgotten. The beginning of the year is one of those pivot points that challenge us to stop, take inventory, and at least consider making changes in our lives. Although we don’t often think about it, new year’s resolutions are a kind of goal setting.
The idea of setting goals often strikes fear in our hearts. Most of us have been part of organizations that required us to set goals at one time or another. Some of us didn’t mind so much setting goals as being required to!
In The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky helps the reader to see goal setting as a path to mental health and growth rather than as a burden. She suggests that goal setting can contribute to our well-being on a personal level. Here are her ideas:
Goals can give a sense of purpose and feeling in control. There are things that we can control and those that we can’t. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to spell out a way to pursue what you can control?
Goals can increase our sense of self-esteem. Setting goals reminds us that we can make decisions for ourselves in most areas of life, that we have a sense of agency.
Goals can add structure and interest. Goals help us to evaluate what is important to us personally, relationally, professionally, and spiritually. They encourage us to reassess our values and put them into action.
Goals can help us to strategize and prioritize our time. So much to do and so little time!
We all have many demands on our lives and just so much time each day. How will we spend it? Goals help us make those decisions.
Goals can keep us grounded in times of change and uncertainty. Goals are aspirational and not always obtainable. We recognize that change can impact our ability to pursue our goals. That doesn’t mean that we give up on them; good goals can challenge you to find alternate ways to achieve what is important to you.
Goals can help us feel more deeply connected to others. We really don’t do anything in a vacuum. Our choices impact those around us. Goals encourage us to take the needs of others into our consideration of what we will and will not do.
One of the lessons I learned when I retired was that if I didn’t have a plan for how I would spend my time, there were others who would be glad to do it for me! Certainly, many of those were worthy options, but the choice was mine. I had to be faithful to my values. Goals help us to pursue what we value; in so doing, they become a gift, not a burden.
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