My previous two posts have explored why setting goals can be challenging and the steps you can take to ensure your goals reflect what’s important to you. Key to any goal achievement is motivation. Will the goals you create energise you sufficiently to commit to them?

Here I take the Wheel of Life, a goal-setting model borrowed from the world of coaching. The Wheel of Life provides a way to capture your goals in a holistic way. You can use it to design goals for each of the different areas of your life and to test your motivation.

Completing a Wheel of Life works best with a career coach. Nonetheless it’s a helpful activity to complete on your own and I’ve used it successfully on many occasions myself.

How to create your Wheel of Life
  1. Take a blank sheet of paper.
  2. Draw a large circle.
  3. Divide the circle into 8 segments.
  4. Label each segment with headings that represent the different aspects of your life. For example, Family, Money, Career, Health and Fitness, Holidays, Friendships, Relationship, Growth, Interests.
  5. Score each segment from 1 to 10, according to your degree of satisfaction with it. 1 represents ‘not at all happy’ and 10 means ‘completely fulfilled and happy’.
  6. Next, draw lines between each of segments to connect your scores. You’ll probably have a wobbly looking wheel, which is entirely normal; some scores will be higher or lower than others.
  7. The gap between the score you have now and where you want to be creates an opportunity to design your goals.
  8. For each segment, ask yourself “what would increase my current score?”. For example, what would it take, if you’d scored 4 for Health and Fitness, to increase the score to a 6 or a 7?
  9. Go through each of your segments in turn asking yourself the same question.
  10. Congratulations; you’ve just created your goals.
How to prioritise your goals

Taking each of your goals in turn, next ask yourself: “Does this goal have a positive impact on the other segments of my Wheel?” For each positive answer, a goal receives one point. Those goals with the highest points should take priority as they will also increase the scores in the other segments.

For example, let’s say one of my goals under Growth is “to complete an online course in how to write effective AI prompts.’” Will that have a positive impact on the other segments of my Wheel?’ By becoming more effective at writing prompts I should be able to complete work tasks more efficiently. So the impact on Career (more efficient and useful to put on my CV) and Relationship (freeing up more time to spend with my partner, less on work) is positive in these two areas- so my goal receives 2 points. And so on, for each segment.

How to set effective goals
  • Why do you want to achieve your goal? Now it’s time to test your goals to ensure they’re sufficiently motivating. Ask yourself: “What will achieving this goal give me?” Brainstorm all the positive things that would happen when you’ve succeeded.
  • How much do you want it? You’ve already identified some dissatisfaction where you’ve given a goal less than a 10. Ask yourself how badly you want to achieve it, also on a scale of 1-10. If your motivation score is below an 8 or 9 you’re unlikely to  to complete it- so it’s perhaps worth re-thinking your goal until the score increases.
  • Select goals that stretch. Goals are more than a ‘to do’ list. Your goals should take you beyond your comfort zone. Goals will require you to change your behaviour or approach in order to achieve them and improve your life.
  • Dare to dream. Think beyond everyday constraints. What do you really want? To quote Einstein: ‘Imagination is more important than reality.’
  • Get specific. Once you’re happy with the way you’ve captured your goals, plan how you’ll achieve each one. Write down the timescales, who else will be involved and what needs to happen to ensure you succeed.
Ensure your goals are specific
  • Focus on your goals. We become what we think about most of the time. Your subconscious mind will register the disconnect between whare you are and where you want to be and will  help you find a way to achieve your goals. For example, have you ever wondered why, if you desire a specific make, colour and model of a car, you start to see that car everywhere? Strange coincidences may occur; chance meetings with key people or finding yourself in the right place at the right time. Be ready to seize the opportunities that start to come your way.
  • Break your goal down. Take one small step each day towards your goals and keep a notebook to record your progress.
Make your goals visual
  • Create an image for each of your goals. This makes it easier to imagine achieving them and helps keep them in focus. Write the target date you plan to achieve your goal.
  • Display your goals– whether it’s on a mood board or a reminder stuck to the fridge. This keeps your focus and is a helpful reminder of what you’re working towards.
  • Action and persistence are key to goal achievement. If you look at all those who’ve achieved significant personal goals, all of them have experienced repeated failure and often heartache on their way to success and yet they’ve not been deterred.
Review and reward yourself
  • Success. Imagine how you’ll feel when you achieve your goal. What will you be doing? How will you celebrate? Engage all your senses so you can literally see, smell and taste victory.
  • Reward yourself for the progress you’re making, however small the step. I’ve found that noting small wins in my paper diary  and adding in a coloured sticker works for me. It’s also valuable once you get to the end of the year as you can see how much progress you’ve made. All those tiny steps really do add up.
  • Focus on the actions towards your goal rather than the goal itself. Your ‘destination goal’ may be out of your control. e.g. “To be appointed into the Senior Leader role by the end of the year.” However, the journey towards your goal is within your control. e.g. “To have fully researched the role and met with key staff who can help me prepare for the interview by May.
  • Change or revise a goal If it’s not working for you.
  • Review your goals with someone supportive who will encourage you but also hold you to account.
  • Find Role Models. Talk to those who have achieved amazing things. Ask them for their tips on how they achieved their goals.

The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.   Michelangelo

My next post will explore how to create and embed new habits to support your goal achievement.