Welcome back to another issue of ‘Career Guides Weekly’ by Career Guides.

Today I thought I’d share how I’m setting goals for this year because, you know, it’s that time of the year where we’re all so motivated to achieve so much across all areas of our lives. If this sounds like you, read on.

🧠 How I'm Setting Goals For 2024 And How You Should Too

My process consists of 3 simple elements:

1. Life’s 5 Key Accounts

2. Setting 12 Month Goals

3. Setting 3 Month Goals

Life’s 5 Key Accounts

I break my life into 5 key accounts:

1. Physical Account (health and fitness)

2. Mental Account (knowledge and learning)

3. Material Account (money and career)

4. Emotional Account (friends and family)

5. Spiritual Account (religion and faith)

I set 3 to 5 goals for each of these accounts that I'd like to achieve by the end of the year.

Then I ask myself the following question:

"Which 1 goal from each category if achieved today would make the biggest difference to my life?"

I then circle / highlight that 1 goal from each account.

This leaves me with 5 goals.

These 5 goals form the focus for the next 3 months.

I then ask myself the following 3 questions for each goal:

1. How much of this goal can I achieve in the next 3 months?

2. What is the immediate next step I can take today to move me closer to this goal?

3. After I take the first step what are the next 5 steps I need to take this week / month?

Remember Parkinson’s Law? It states that ‘work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion’.

By breaking up my 12 month goals into 3 month goals I'm able to:

1. Prioritise better

2. Stay on track more often

3. Maintain focus throughout the year

This method of goal setting works for me. Something else might work for you. However, if you're interested in setting goals for 2024 but don't know where to start then this might be the best method to get you started.

Give it a go and see where it leads. You might end up surprising yourself. It's been a game changer for me and I’d highly recommend it.

That’s all for now. See you soon!

Afzal

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