6 Essential Goals for a Balanced and Fulfilled Life

While everyone understands that goals are important to success, not everyone sets goals and commits to achieving them.

In a previous blog post, I talked about creating a strategy for achieving your goals. Today, let’s explore six Essential Goals that can bring balance and fulfillment to your life.

There are several areas of life that have a great impact your overall wellbeing now and in the future. It’s important to have suitable goals in each of these areas if you want to have a more fulfilled life.

Here Are 6 Essential Goals Everyone Should Consider Having

1. Financial Goals

Everyone knows that lack of financial security and stability is a major source of stress. Financial success opens endless opportunities. It also gives you options and can free up your time, especially if you reach the point where you don’t have to work any longer.

Many people are uncomfortable with the idea of becoming wealthy. They may wish to be successful but also have pangs of guilt over having what they consider is too much. However, it’s difficult to truly be free unless you’re financially secure.

Given the key role money plays in our lives, it’s important to have goals in this area.

Examples of financial goals include:

- Paying off $10,000 in debt within the next year.
- Saving six months’ worth of living expenses as an emergency fund.
- Investing 15% of monthly income toward retirement.

Having financial goals ensures stability and reduces stress, enabling you to focus on other areas of life. These essential goals also work towards you having a better future. For example, paying off debt now could pave the way to saving for a dream home or early retirement in the future.

2. Health Goals

Not much matters if your health fails. Despite this, many people make the mistake of failing to include health goals.

Be sure to include goals related to your nutrition, fitness, and mental and emotional health. Also remember to consult your physician to ensure your health goals are realistic and safe.

Examples of health goals include:

Walking 10,000 steps daily 6 days a week.
Following a balanced meal plan with your doctor’s guidance.
Practicing mindfulness or meditation for 15 minutes each day to reduce stress.
Working with a therapist to heal from childhood trauma.

Health goals help you maintain the energy and vitality needed to enjoy life, and that is why they are essential goals to have. They also provide long-term benefits when implemented consistently. For instance, walking 10,000 steps daily now could lead to shedding off excess weight and get you weaned off medication for conditions such as high blood pressure.

3. Relationship Goals

Relationships are the cornerstone of a happy and fulfilling life. Whether it’s with family, friends, or a romantic partner, healthy and strong connections provide emotional support, reduce stress, and increase life satisfaction.

Ongoing and healthy communication is key with your spouse or romantic partner.

Consider relationship goals like:

Having a weekly date night.
Attending a relationship workshop together.
Sharing one meaningful conversation every day.
Going on holiday together once a year.

Set goals to spend more quality time with your nuclear and extended family.

This could mean:

Having dinner with your nuclear family at least 5 nights a week.
Going on a monthly family outing.
Calling relatives at least once a month.
Visiting your parents and siblings each month (or when applicable based on distance).
Attending a reunion for the extended family every two years.

Friendships require effort to start, grow, and maintain.

Examples of friendship goals include:

Checking in with close friends once a week.
Having lunch or dinner with friends once a week or month.
Organizing a monthly or quarterly get-together with your friend group.
Making new friends this year (if you need to grow your circle).

Healthy relationships don’t happen by accident. They require attention, time, and a commitment to growth. Setting essential goals in this area ensures that the people who matter most to you remain active in your life.

Also keep in mind that you must have strong and healthy boundaries when it comes relationships. This is key so that you avoid having toxic relationships that take away your peace of mind.

4. Career and/or Business Goals

Most of us spend 40+ hours each week at a job or business of some sort. That is a huge part of our waking hours.

When you include getting ready for work, commuting, and all the time you spend outside of work thinking about it, your career or business takes up a large portion of your life.

There’s a lot of competition in the workplace, whether you’re employed or running your own business. You’re less likely to grow and succeed if you don’t have any essential goals regarding the direction of your career or business.

Career goals can include:

Earning a promotion within the next two years.
Completing a professional certification or degree program within the next 3 years.
Transitioning to a new industry that aligns with your passions.

Business goals can include:

Doubling business income in 3 years or less.
Hiring a team to help manage and grow the business (outline the exact positions you’re hiring for).
Launching and selling an online course within the next 12 months to create semi-passive income.

By setting clear objectives, you create more motivation to grow your career or business now and in the coming years. For example, completing a degree now could set you up to getting a promotion or landing a new job that pays you more than your current one.

5. Self-Development Goals

It’s fulfilling when you deliberately grow in some way and become more developed and capable. In contrast, it can be disappointing to look back at your life and realize that you haven’t changed significantly in the last five years.

Here are some examples of self-development goals:

Taking an online course in coding or graphic design.
Learning to play the guitar or piano.
Joining a local club or group focused on a skill, such as public speaking (e.g., Toastmasters).
Joining a book club to make friends and read at least 12 books a year.
Learning a martial art.
You can also add spiritual goals here.

Self-development goals are essential goals because they ensure that you’re always moving forward and becoming the best version of yourself.

These goals can also lead to growing in other areas of your life or in the achievement of other essential goals. For instance, mastering a new skill can boost your confidence and open doors to new opportunities in your career.

For example, learning coding today could lead to a tech career down the road. You can also use these new skills to freelance and earn money in your free time.

6. Adventure Goals

Deep down, we all admire those people who travel and have an adventurous life. Taking part in adventurous activities gives you a new perspective on life. It also makes you more interesting to others.

Each person has their own idea of what constitutes adventure and this is a key consideration when setting goals in this area. For example, one person may prefer skydiving while another may prefer visiting a foreign country.

Examples of adventure goals include:

Planning a trip to a national park you’ve never visited.
Taking up a new hobby, such as scuba diving or rock climbing.
Attending a cultural festival in a different country.
Visit the pyramids of Egypt.
Going whitewater rafting.
Going on an African safari.

Adventure goals add excitement and variety to life, enriching your experiences and broadening your horizons. They can also spark off interest in other areas. For instance, planning a national park visit could inspire a passion for environmental conservation.

Do You Have Essential Goals?

Many people focus on setting short-term and medium-term goals to escape the discomfort they’re currently experiencing. For example, someone can aim to save an extra $500 this month or lose 15 kilos. While these goals are valid, they should ideally serve as stepping stones toward long-term goals that give life meaning.

Saving $500 this month could be the first step toward a long-term goal of buying a house or achieving financial independence. Similarly, losing 15 kilos could be part of a larger health journey that leads to participating in endurance sports or having a more active lifestyle for decades to come.

Many successful people tend to have unbalanced lives because they put too much attention on one area while neglecting others. Don’t be one of them. Work on balancing these 6 essential goals and you’ll have greater overall happiness and fulfillment.

Over to you…

How many of these essential goals do you have in place?

Do you have all six categories covered?
What areas do you think you’re excelling in, and which need more focus?
What are you going to do to ensure that no key area is left out?

I’d love to hear from you so share your thoughts in the comments or chat.

(Image credit: Pexels)

When you’re ready, here are some ways I can help you grow

➡️ Clarity Session: This is perfect if you only want clarity, direction, and a solid plan for the year. It’s ideal if you already have goals just want to map out your next steps & create an agile plan.

➡️ Strategy Session Pack: This is discounted pack of 5 coaching sessions that are spread over 2 months. This is perfect if you’re unsure where to start or you want a deeper dive into your goals. We will brainstorm your vision for the next 3 years, create an agile 3-year plan, and map out a strategy for achieving your top 3 goals for the first 12 months of your plan. This plan is agile enough to withstand economic and political uncertainties.

➡️ 12 Weeks to Startup coaching program: Every year, I handhold 12 women and help them set up part-time businesses that monetize their expertise. The program runs from May to July/August. Click here to find out more about the next cohort.

➡️ Elevate Mastermind: Self-employed professionals struggle to have consistent income. This mastermind is for you if you want to create semi-passive income through e-courses. It runs for 1 year and you get to create, test, market, sell, and scale at least one e-course per year. Click here to find out more about Elevate.

➡️ Break Free, Live Your Life: This 4-month program is designed to empower high-achieving women to transition to their next level in career or business without compromising their values and priorities. It comprises four major themes: Clarity, Confidence, Courage, and Control. Each module includes in-depth content, practical exercises, and assignments for application and growth. Click here to find out more about Break Free.