Personal development is very important and popular lately, and personal goals are part of that process. I’ve learned that becoming the best version of yourself is no small feat, and personal goals help achieve that higher state of being.
Goals are the desired outcome in which specific actions are taken to achieve it, and personal goals are unique to each individual and can be applied to the various areas of life, including health, family, career, and finances.
Setting and achieving personal goals increases productivity, helps you stay focused, and ultimately leads to success, a greater sense of confidence, and increased happiness. There are countless ways to set personal goals to help gain momentum and keep direction in any area of life.
What is a Personal Goal?
According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, a goal is “the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.” A personal goal is one that can be applied to any area of life: family, health, work, etc. A personal goal is unique to each person, depending on their desires, ideas of achievement and success, and what makes them happy.
Benefits of Personal Goals
There are many benefits of having personal goals. Creating them gives you the ability to change your life. A saying goes, “If you’re unhappy, make a change,” and personal goals give the momentum to move forward in your life. Personal goals help you gain confidence, give you a greater insight through personal development, and create a sense of clarity, happiness, and gratitude. Here are just a few ways that people benefit from having personal goals:
- Creates momentum
- Creates new habits and helps prioritize change
- Gives you a sense of clarity
- Room for personal development and growth
- Provides focus and direction
- Gives you a sense of happiness
- Help you stay motivated
- Keeps you accountable
- Gives you confidence in your abilities
- Feeling of success
- Greater sense of gratitude
- Helps with time management and boundaries
- Prevent being overwhelmed
- Creates a higher sense of purpose
Personal goals raise self-awareness. They are gateways for change – change in habits, environment, and outlook.
In a case study by Science Direct, small businesses were examined to determine how goal setting helped achieve success. It concluded the entrepreneur is the most important person to be goal setting and directly affects the company’s success.
Another case study, Shape America, examined the effects of sports rehab patients working with personal goals and those who do not. The patients with personal goals showed greater physical healing and felt more motivated and positive.
Good Personal Goals
Personal goals raise self-awareness. They are gateways for change – change in habits, environment, and outlook. A good personal goal is realistic and achievable while encouraging personal growth and development. Progress can be tracked with a time limit or by getting very specific. Here are some examples of personal goals:
- Work out every day/ commit to a workout routine
- Learn a new skill
- Cultivate meaningful relationships
- Read one page of a self-help/educational book every day
- Learn a new skill
- Graduate from school
- Become a better communicator
- Journal every day
- Set boundaries and stand up for yourself
- Practice empathy and kindness towards others
- Read self-help/educational books
- Prioritize spirituality
- Move to a new city
- Start a side hustle – keep the money flowing even as you invest in your business
- Becoming the highest version of yourself – a person who possesses several qualities and traits that you currently do not have
- Become a better parent, spouse, and leader
- Read an entire personal development book, or complete a course
- Become financially healthy: save enough money to buy a home, to pay for your child’s tuition, to start a business, to retire
- Travel more, and/or go on a solo trip
- Start a business, write a book, create a product or service
- Get to know yourself better
- Learn how to make the best decisions for yourself
- Get outside every morning, go for a walk or sit in the grass
- Be grateful for where you are and what you have now
- Cultivate and maintain relationships in the workplace
- Become a better communicator
- Balance between work and personal life
- Spend time with family each week
- Improve time management skills
- Read one book a month on work-related topics: building relationships, leadership, communication, etc.
- Learn a new skill, take a course, invest in becoming better at your job
How to Create Personal Goals
Having personal goals is a great way to make changes in life, become a better version of yourself, and help you stay on track, but how do you create them? We’ve broken it down for you in a simple step-by-step process.
- Identify Life Areas – get a journal, a piece of paper, or a digital document, and write the main areas you want to focus on in your life. Some areas could be personal, health, family, community/social, home environment, spirituality, travel, and finances.
- Identify Areas that Can Be Improved – think about your day-to-day life. What areas are life-giving? Which are life-draining? Are there certain habits you want to change? Do certain problems need to be solved? If your life is pretty great, you don’t have a lot of complaints, and you’re unsure where to start, try jotting down notes on how a typical day looks as if you are describing it to a stranger. What do you do? Where do you go? How do you feel? Who is with you? What responsibilities do you have? Tune into how you feel. Including these details will help you see what is and isn’t working; it will expose certain murky areas and bring light to things you may not have noticed.
- Map Out Your Dream Life – now that you’ve looked at your life dead-on and can see it for what it is, how do you feel about it? Are there any specifics that immediately jump out at you, shouting for improvement? Or is there a particular dream you’ve had for a while but just haven’t put it into fruition yet. Now jot down your dream life, asking yourself the same questions you asked when describing an average day.
- Review and Identify Goals – look at each day and compare them. This will give you a better idea of some personal goals. Think of the goals as a bridge, getting you from where you are now to where you want to be.
- Create a Personal Goals List – There may be many goals popping up within your soul. Maybe you like your life as it is, but there are a few habits you want to change or one specific area that needs improvement. The next step is to create a personal goals list. Creating multiple lists of goals for each life area will keep you organized instead of combining them all into a massive list, which can be overwhelming, daunting, and prevent you from taking action altogether. Write the topic at the top of the page and jot down all personal goals that pertain to each topic. For example, under the “Personal” list, you could write “read one page of a book every day” or “learn how to communicate better.” For “family” you could write “have family time each Sunday.”
- Prioritize – Now that the lists are organized into bite-sized pieces decide which ones you want to make a priority. If you only have a couple, deciding how to spend your time on these goals will be easier. Choose the most important ones if your lists are a million miles long.
- Make a Plan – You’ve chosen your personal goals; now it’s time to make a plan on how to execute them. Get a new sheet of paper, and write out the goals. Underneath each goal, write down a couple of ways you can achieve the goal. Feel free to write as many steps as needed, especially if the goal is more general. Going back to the previous example of “read one page of a book every day,” the plan could look something like this:
- Goal: Read one page of a self-help book every day
- Get up a half-hour earlier every day
- No social media until reading that one page
This is a specific goal in which certain habits or schedules might have to be adjusted to achieve said goal. A more general goal such as “family time every Sunday” might require more steps/sub notes.
- Goal: Family time every Sunday
- Have a family meeting to discuss new goal
- Decide on timing – how many hours/what time of day, etc.
- Ensure kids and partner have cleared schedule
- Don’t schedule anything on Sunday afternoons
Time is another important factor for setting personal goals. Putting a time limit on the goal can help create a laid-out plan. It can keep you more accountable. Be flexible as time limits can also create more stress. No matter the goal, breaking it down into smaller chunks will make it more easily attainable. This will also keep your focus on the goal and the momentum to create the desired change.
- Execute! – Live out your personal goals. Try new things and experiment with new schedules. It might take some time to adjust to these goals, but the benefits are tenfold. Pay attention to what is and isn’t working and adjust as needed. Look over your lists often, so you stay on track.
- Feel Accomplished and Gain Confidence – as you achieve your personal goals, reap the benefits of greater confidence, attitude, and overall happiness. Don’t be surprised if you start attracting better opportunities into your life – your energy will be glowing. Make sure you take time to celebrate your accomplishments and give yourself credit deserved for working hard to achieve your dreams.
Personal Goals List
Here is a simple checklist to help you create and achieve personal goals:
- Identify Life Areas
- Identify Areas that Can Be Improved
- Map Out Your Dream Life
- Review and Identify Goals
- Create a Personal Goals List
- Prioritize
- Make a Plan
- Execute
- Feel Accomplished, and Gain Confidence
Setting Personal Goals
Setting personal goals can be difficult if you have no idea where to start. Try jotting down the different areas in life that are highly important, such as career, social life, personal growth, health, and family. Are there things that need to change or need improvement? Under each category, write down any problems, frustrations, or annoyances you experience regularly- or something you’re currently going through. As you look over each issue, ask yourself, “What can I do to change or improve this situation?”
Write down your answer. This could be a personal goal, or the desired outcome might create a personal goal. From there, you have something to focus on. Below the goal, write down a few steps or ways to achieve that goal. A calendar will also help you set them so they can be achieved. Holding yourself accountable to complete a particular step or maintain a specific habit will enable you to see if you’re working towards your goal or not.
Personal Development & Personal Growth Goals
Is there a difference between personal development and personal growth? Personal development are the tools that help you become who you want to be, while personal growth results from the action. They technically mean different things but can be interchangeably used when setting goals. Here are some examples of personal development and personal growth goals:
- Learn a new skill
- Become a better communicator
- Journal every day
- Set boundaries and stand up for yourself
- Become more confident
- Practice empathy and kindness towards others
- Read self-help/educational books
- Prioritize spirituality
- Stop procrastinating
- Get to know yourself better
- Learn how to make the best decisions for yourself
- Become more productive
- Embrace the unknown, don’t let fear hold you back
- Meditate daily
- Cultivate meaningful relationships
- Plan ahead – schedule, food prep, outfits, etc.
- Learn how to listen actively
- Practice gratitude daily – write down five things you’re grateful for each day
- Release self-doubt
- Accept yourself fully
- Less screen time, no mindless scrolling on social media
- Practice self-care
- Develop a growth mindset
- Learn how to say “no” and prioritize your schedule
- Complete an online course for self-improvement
- See a counselor
- Practice time-management skills
- Start regularly volunteering
- Define your core beliefs, values, and morals
- Create more, consume less
Types of Personal Goals
Personal goals can be applied to any and every area of life: career, self-growth, family, social, travel, finances, health and wellness, and more. There are long-term goals, which can span over years or even decades. These are more general and require setting smaller, short-term goals. There are SMART goals and ones based on outcome, performance, and process. Whether you’re a student, a full-time parent, a manager, or a dreamer wanting to change your life, you can set many goals specifically for your lifestyle. Let’s explore this vast array of options.
Having personal goals for work creates a pathway to success.
Personal Goals in Life
These goals can be applied no matter who you are, what you do for work, or where you live.
- Lose weight/develop your ideal physique
- Build and create your brand
- Cultivate meaningful relationships
- Learn a new language
- Create a website showcasing your products and services
- Do something that scares you, think outside the box
- Hire an assistant, a social media manager, or a team of supportive people who believe in the company
- Get a mentor, and become a mentor to someone else
- Network, attend conferences, join online groups, create a community in the workplace
- Embrace the unknown, don’t let fear hold you back
- Meditate daily for 15 minutes
- Determine what success means to you, and set goals based on it
- Spend one day each week planning – schedule, food prep, outfits, etc.
- Learn how to listen actively
- Practice gratitude daily – write down five things you’re grateful for each day
- Take the leap and change job paths, or careers – if you’re feeling called in a different direction, don’t be afraid to make the change!
- Less screen time, no mindless scrolling on social media
- Practice self-care
- Develop a growth mindset
- Learn how to say “no” and prioritize your schedule
- Become a leader, take charge of team projects, look for ways to showcase your skills
- See a counselor
- Start regularly volunteering
- Define your core beliefs, values, and morals
- Create more, consume less
Long-Term Personal Goals
Long-term goals will be more general compared to short-term goals, but overall have a more significant impact on life. These goals take time and planning, and short-term goals are the necessary link in the chain to complete them. Some examples of long-term personal goals include:
- Lose weight/develop your ideal physique
- Move to a new city
- Make a major switch in jobs or career
- Graduate from school
- Learn a new language
- Become the highest version of yourself – a person who possesses several qualities and traits that you currently do not have
- Become a better parent, spouse, and leader
- Read an entire personal development book, or complete a course
- Become financially healthy: save enough money to buy a home, to pay for your child’s tuition, to start a business, to retire
- Start a business, write a book, create a product or service
Short-Term Personal Goals
Short-term personal goals will be the smaller goals, the bite-sized chunks of the long-term goals that help you stay focused and on track. These goals are smaller tasks completed in a shorter time frame. Some examples of short-term goals are:
- Create a morning routine
- Read one book page each day
- Set deadlines
- Make time in your schedule
- Create a plan for your finances
- Commit to going to the gym, meal prep, take progress photos
- Journal, meditate, and practice gratitude
- Cut out one “bad” habit every month and replace it with a good, positive one
- Less screen time, no mindless scrolling
- Create more, consume less
- Go out with friends once a week
- Commit to an online course and finish it within the suggested timeframe
- Invite a coworker or boss out once a week
- Learn a new skill/attend a week, biweekly, or monthly class
- Spend quality time with family once a week
Personal Goals for Women
There’s no doubt that women are beautiful, powerful creatures. We can often be the central foundation of our families and communities; the sun that the earth spins around. Most women I talk to say the same thing: they’re busy juggling their home life, social life, work, and self-care. Maintaining personal goals as a woman is key to handling stress and finding success and happiness in the everyday. Here are some empowering personal goals specifically geared towards women:
- Make time for self-care, prioritize time with yourself
- Travel alone
- Shift the patriarchal paradigm: learn skills only men did in the past, such as working on cars and housework.
- Become financially independent before meeting your partner, or if you’re already in a relationship, split the responsibility of finances
- Cultivate a strong, supportive community
- Prioritize your health – physically and mentally
- Stop comparing yourself to other women; instead, lift and support them
- Maintain a morning routine
- Set a savings goal, and start investing
- Develop disciplined habits and routines
- Create multiple streams of income
- Spend more time learning, and reading, less time consuming and mindless scrolling
- Constantly challenge yourself
- Learn a new skill or hobby
- Love your job or career
- Become an excellent communicator
- Donate money, and volunteer regularly
- Learn about your strengths and weakness, become more confident
- Be present and be in a state of gratitude
Personal Goals for Work
Having personal goals for work creates a pathway to success. There’s no worse feeling than being stuck in a boring job or where you feel underappreciated. By setting personal goals for your work, business, career, or studies, you’ll maintain momentum to keep progressing and land that perfect position.
Personal Goals for Work or Career
- Be grateful for where you are and what you have now
- Cultivate and maintain relationships in the workplace
- Become a better communicator
- Create balance between work and personal life
- Be prompt, reliable, and a team player
- Improve time management skills
- Read one book a month on work-related topics: building relationships, leadership, communication, etc.
- Learn a new skill, take a course, invest in becoming better at your job
- Find new ways to challenge yourself
- Take time for self-care
- Network, attend conferences, join online groups, create community in the workplace
- Advocate for yourself – if you feel you are due a raise or promotion, speak with your boss
- Become a leader, take charge on team projects, look for ways to showcase your skills
- Determine what success means to you, and set goals based on it
- Take the leap and change job paths, or careers – if you’re feeling called in a totally different direction, don’t be afraid to make the change!
Personal Goals for Students
- Manage your time wisely
- Use a calendar or phone to schedule classes, homework, and tasks
- Prioritize – get the bigger, more important projects done first
- Practice financial responsibility – set budgets, track spending, get a part time job, etc.
- Balance work and play
- Cut down on screen time and scrolling through social media
- Dedicate time each week to career development
- Get an internship (while in school or during summer break, before graduating if possible)
- Read books that aren’t part of the required curriculum
- Take time for self-care
Professional Goals
- Learn a new skill, get certified, take a course
- Seek out feedback, and learn how to give feedback
- Learn how to work with others and collaborate on projects
- Network, and develop community within the workplace
- Create a website or portfolio to showcase your work
- Brand yourself – create a brand that is unique to you and what services or products you’re offering
- Practice interviewing
- Learn how to give a good presentation
- Increase your productivity and time management
- Learn about other departments in the company
- Track your habits
- Become an entrepreneur, build your own business
- Find a mentor
- Identify your strengths and weaknesses
- Create a strong resume
Personal Business Goals
- Build and create your brand
- Create a website showcasing your products and services
- Become active on social media, use the platforms to connect with consumers and build a fan base
- Create economic goals – how much do you want to make in the first month, year, three years?
- Start a side hustle – keep the money flowing even as you invest in your business
- Do something that scares you, think outside the box
- Hire an assistant, social media manager, or team of supportive people who believe in the company
- Learn a new skill, take a course, read a book
- Develop a growth mindset
- Network
- Create realistic and reachable goals that pertain to your business
- Keep a balance between work and personal life
- Take time for self-care
- Get a mentor
Personal Development Goals for Managers & Leaders
- Constantly better yourself as a leader – take a course, read books, have someone evaluate you
- Take time to get to know your employees
- Improve your own and the team’s productivity and time management skills
- Delegate, don’t handle it all on your own
- Hire a team of supportive people you can rely on
- Be an active-listener
- Regularly meet with employees, take time to get to know them
- Put on social events outside of work to cultivate community amongst employees
- Don’t show favoritism, practice equality
- Be adaptable
- When something goes wrong, take responsibility, work with the employee to fix the problem, and be part of the team
- Be a mentor
- Increase emotional intelligence
- Become confident in presenting, public speaking
- Develop critical thinking skills, learn how to act quickly and be the solution to the problem
- Be open to feedback from your employees about your performance
Examples of Personal Goals
What are Personal Goals Examples?
- Create a morning routine
- Read one page of a book each day
- Create a savings and investment plan
- Set deadlines
- Make time in your schedule
- Create a plan for your finances
- Commit to going to the gym, meal prep, take progress photos
- Journal, meditate, and practice gratitude
- Cut out one “bad” habit every month and replace it with a good, positive one
- Less screen time, no mindless scrolling
- Advocate for a raise or promotion at work
- Create more, consume less
- Go out with friends once a week
- Commit to an online course and finish it within the suggested timeframe
- Invite a coworker or boss out once a week
- Learn a new skill/attend a week, biweekly, or monthly class
- Spend quality time with family once a week
- Start a business
Examples of Personal Goals for Students
Being a student is a full-time job. Juggling the classes, the seemingly endless amounts of homework, and keeping a job or internship is stressful and demanding. By setting personal goals as a student, you can increase productivity, develop better time management and critical thinking skills, and be more successful at school. Here are some examples of personal goals for students:
- Manage your time wisely
- Use a calendar or phone to schedule classes, homework, and tasks
- Prioritize – get the bigger, more important projects done first
- Practice financial responsibility – set budgets, track spending, get a part-time job, etc.
- Balance work and play
- Cut down on screen time and scrolling through social media
- Dedicate time each week to career development
- Get an internship (while in school or during summer break, before graduating if possible)
- Read books that aren’t part of the required curriculum
- Take time for self-care
Smart Personal Goals Examples
SMART Goals are personal goals that use the acronym S.M.A.R.T. to set and achieve goals. The acronym is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.
- Specific – get super clear on the personal goal. A general goal is harder to achieve when it’s not as well defined.
- Measurable – the goal enables you to track progress and determine whether or not it’s achieved.
- Attainable – the goal is one that you are capable of achieving.
- Relevant – the goal is important and pertinent to your desires and dreams; it lines up with what you want for yourself and will help you get there.
- Time-Based – the goal has a deadline to keep you on track.
Personal Business Goals Examples
Building and growing a business is no small feat. Tons of people do it, but not all are successful. Here are some examples of personal business goals to create a successful business:
- Build and create your brand
- Create a website showcasing your products and services
- Become active on social media, use the platforms to connect with consumers and build a fan base
- Create economic goals – how much do you want to make in the first month, year, three years?
- Start a side hustle – keep the money flowing even as you invest in your business
- Do something that scares you, think outside the box
- Hire an assistant, a social media manager, a team of supportive people who believe in the company
- Learn a new skill, take a course, read a book
- Develop a growth mindset
- Network
- Create realistic and reachable goals that pertain to your business
- Keep a balance between work and personal life
- Take time for self-care
- Get a mentor
If you’d like to learn a three-part process for personal goal achievement and learn how to design your life and make it go forward in the direction you want it to, check out this helpful video.
Related Insights
What are some personal smart goals?
S.M.A.R.T. personal goals (the acronym stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based) help you take action by being very specific, giving you a much higher chance of meeting the goals. Some examples of SMART goals are:
- Get outside on your lunch break every day (when weather permits), take a walk or sit in the grass
- Journal each morning upon waking
- Save “x” amount of money in three months by working an extra shift, and cooking at home
- Get together with your family once a month
- Take an online course and complete one module a week
- Declutter, purge, and organize one area or room in the home each week or month
- Go to the gym three times a week before work
- Spend every Sunday evening reflecting on the past week and preparing for the week ahead
- Go on a date night with your partner once every week
- Meal prep on Monday and Thursday afternoons
- Volunteer for two hours once a week/every other week/once a month
- Spend 10 minutes every day meditating
- Dedicate one afternoon each week to self-care
What are the three types of goals?
Almost every goal we make can be classified as one of the three types: process, performance, and outcome. They are all linked and affect one another. Let’s use an example of wanting to become a successful bodybuilder or powerlifter. You want to be sponsored by a fitness company, meaning you’d be a spokesperson for the brand in exchange for attending events on the company’s wallet. Being sponsored means more opportunities for more competitions, thus more publicity, more brand deals, and more money.
Process goals are centered around an action or a process. You’re not going to become a famous and successful fitness guru overnight. you might make a goal to work out five times a week for one hour, cut out added sugars, and processed foods from your diet, and get at least eight hours of sleep every night. This would be a process goal. It’s focused on doing what needs to be done to achieve the next type of goal; the performance goal.
Performance goals focus on just that, performance. This standard is usually a personal perspective. A performance goal could be to place within the top three at a bodybuilding or powerlifting competition. You achieve that goal by completing the process goals, and the outcome goal affects the performance goal.
Outcome goals are based on performance goals and are more of a domino effect from the other two, meaning the outcome goals might not be achievable until meeting other goals. Say you place third in the competition and become sponsored by a protein company, which was your outcome goal. However, unless you are in the top three, you can’t be sponsored, so all the other goals must be met first.
What are some simple goals?
In the spirit of this blog, we like to keep things simple. Sometimes it’s best to start with the simple goals in life to see the changes we want. It can be overwhelming to look at the different areas of life and see all the things we want to change. Try starting with these simple goals to create healthier habits and a peaceful state of mind:
- Go to bed earlier and get up earlier
- Drink a glass of water before any food or other beverages
- Declutter, purge your closet, and clean your workspace each day
- Go for a walk, spend time outside
- Journal, meditate, pray, make a gratitude list
- Take a self-directed course, one you can complete at your own pace
- Read one page of a book every day
- Find a mentor
- Volunteer weekly
- Exercise or move your body for 30 minutes every day
- Meal prep for the week
Real People Who Utilize Personal Goals
When polled on social media, about 80% of people say they maintain personal goals regularly. Of those who said they didn’t, 50% said they were interested in learning more about setting personal goals. When asked to describe three of their current personal goals, the individual’s results ranged from health and wellness to personal development to career.
One person said they aspired to get stronger physically and declutter to focus on what is important to them and ways to make a difference. Another person said they wanted to eat healthier, master their fears during rock climbing and mountaineering, and improve their focus at work. It’s evident that personal goals drive us and help us become the best version of ourselves.
| Personal Goals | Percentage of People |
| Health and Wellness | 83% |
| Personal Development | 42% |
| Family | 50% |
| Career | 66% |
| Environment | 16% |
| Finances | 83% |
| Other | 8% |
Of the 12 people who have personal goals, health and finances were the most common amongst the group, with 10 people having at least one goal in each category. Having financial security and living a long healthy life is at the top of the list for most people.
Other Resources:
- Productivity – How to Be Efficient for Simple, Happy Living
- Building Habits – The Methods I Use for Lasting Change
- Zorro Circle – An Effective Method to Make Personal Change
- Morning Routine – How to Set the Day for Happiness
- Time Wasters: Master Your Time, From Someone Who’s Done It
- My Morning Routine – Creating Positive Momentum for the Day
- Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude – For You Today
Final Thoughts
Personal goals are useful to increase productivity, focus, direction, and drive. Personal goals have many benefits, and a greater sense of success and confidence can stem from achieving them. You can make the best version of yourself by setting, maintaining, and achieving personal goals. Tell us, what are some of your personal goals?