Do you set goals each year? Make New Year’s resolutions?
I generally set goals for the year, but I’m open to things changing, priorities shifting. I’m happy to switch direction as unexpected ideas and opportunities unfold. Maybe this is denial-speak for the fact that I let myself get distracted. Regardless, I do like to start the year with a road map.
This year, as usual, I’ve got my roadmap. But I’m setting off from a different starting point.
Late last year I started thinking about values – something I’d never considered before. I’d had one of those small epiphanies where I realized many of my decisions were based on what other people thought I should do. Not because they pushed me or made particularly compelling arguments, but because I didn’t have a strong sense of what I wanted.
This was kind of shocking, and led me to think and read about values, and eventually discover what my values are.
Two things before I share them.
First, I’m talking here about values that drive me in my current life. If a need is pretty much met in my life, then I’m not driven to pursue it – although I may ‘value’ it. Shelter, for example. Respect. These things aren’t an issue for me – they’re just there; they aren’t driving me.
Second, these are values that drive me in my current life. Values change over time as certain concerns become more or less prominent. The ones I’ve listed are the ones that are pressing now.
My Values
My key values are:
1. Connection
Feeling a spark of true connection, communication, and intimacy with the most important people in my life; feeling genuine engagement with my community online.
2 Creativity; Art; Writing
Putting something into the world that has some small sense of poetry.
3. Kindness; Compassion
Having an open heart to feel for, and a willingness to try to understand, all my fellow beings.
4. Inspiring others
Helping people to be happier and do what matters to them.
5. Beauty
Creating and appreciating beauty wherever I can.
6. Fulfillment
Having a sense of meaning and personal achievement in my work and life.
My Goals
So from that starting point, here are my goals:
1. Revamp my business.
I’ll tell you more about this soon. But, big picture:
- I want to add more programs across a broader range of personal development/self-improvement/personal coaching areas
- I want to re-brand – change the name, look, feel, and tone of the site.
I’m pretty excited – and I think you’ll love the changes I have in mind. 🙂
Values reflected:
Inspiring others; Fulfillment; Beauty
2. Develop creative projects.
Creative writing, maybe drawing, maybe something else.
I’m looking into classes to help me excavate my creativity. If it’s down there somewhere, then it’s buried beneath many layers of corporate crud and multiple strata of shoulds and musts and oughts.
Values reflected:
Creativity/art/writing; Beauty
3. Nurture my relationships
This is always a big one for me. This year, as usual, I want to nurture my closest relationships. They are my emotional oxygen.
After thinking about values it’s now so clear what the people I’m closest to have in common (at first glance it looks like there’s nothing they share). They are all people who value intimacy. Even if I see them twice a year, when we’re together we connect.
I’ve also realized that, although I always say I don’t want new friends, every year I seem to collect new, awesome people. So this year I’m going to be more open to that.
Values reflected:
Connection; Kindness/compassion
4. Improve my health and fitness
I’m a better wife, relative, friend, worker, everything when I feel and look my best.
So getting physically stronger, maintaining my weight, sleeping better (which may mean nose surgery – eeeek!), and getting around to all those health things I neglected last year is a firm goal this year.
Values reflected:
Beauty; Fulfillment; Connection
How About You?
So that’s me as we start the year – my main values and my key goals. I’ll be sharing more about this stuff soon, but I wanted to post this general roadmap now.
How about you?
What are your key values – what ideas underlie your decisions and concerns in life right now?
And given these, what do you want to focus on and achieve this year?
If you’d like to, then please share in the comments. I’d love to know!
For planning my goals, I use the https://ismart.life app. Last year I completed most of my goals and I can say that good planning is the key to success. I recommend this app because it is a very simple and free web app. You can see the demo and decide whether it suits you or not…
Great post – I love the way you pull in your key values – what a way to make your goals meaningful! Here are my goals for 2014: http://behealthybehappywellness.com/2014/01/2014-goals/
I really like how you connect your goals back to values you want to focus on in your life. That’s why we make them after all – they are important to us for some reason. And if they are not important to us, we should ne have them as our goals. Now I really want to go back to my goals and add the WHY!
That was such a great read and really helpful as I think about my own place and how I want to improve it (place in a philophical/esoteric sense, not in a geographical one.LOL) I am excited about your goal one (revamp) but I think it also involves your value 2 (creativity) – thinking laterally and creatively about business is really stimulating. I will be eager to see what happens in your ‘place’.
Thanks for sharing this post, Michelle. I connect most when hearing the ‘inner-workings’ of another. Perhaps (in a small way) you have met a goal! Your commentary raises many thoughts–far too many for a comment post. Although I am not a goal-setter by nature, I am determined to be more content with the here and now. Perhaps that is a key-value…to be thankful for what is. But how does one recognize contentment at those moments it is needed most?? Perhaps that will be my focus?? I hope your creative projects can help (oh, and I adore your branding…it relates to me as a woman, mom, professional, organizer). 2014 is good to me already!
We like adding new programs. If you change the name of the site will you lose customers? Revamping the site this one hasn’t been up more than two years. Try listing the good points and bad points before making the changes. Your number 1 in our book.
Thank you for sharing your values as it relates to goals (vs. making resolutions) for the new year. I believe that we MUST identify what is important to us so that we are able to identify what is not and is MORE important than what is not important to us. How else can one begin to deal with organizing anything ? I value healthiness, which feeds my beauty value, and in turn can be a source of inspiration to others when they see the pounds I’ve lost by completely changing my diet. This makes it much easier to organize my recipes, since it is the value behind the goal rather than the goal becoming a chore. I like the colors you use on your website and the name of your business, but I agree that if you wanted to be creative to do small subtle changes instead of a “revamp”.
What a great way to set goals – we hav mich more chance of succeeding if they align with our values! Well done and you go girl!