Setting annual goals gives us direction for the year ahead. Setting annual gives us purpose and meaning and the more we work on our goals, the more purpose and meaning we bring into our lives. As outlined in Setting Dream Driven Goals I ask myself the following four questions to set my annual goals.
- What are my Dream Driven Goals?
- Why are these goals important to me?
- How will I achieve these goals?
- What metrics will measure progress?
Below I answer these questions for each area of my life,
1. SENSE OF SELF:
Sense of Self combines my spirituality, personal development and personal strategy. This category is all about who I am and how I feel about myself & the world around me.
This is where I work on the concepts of self love, self worth, self esteem, self belief, self trust, self respect and self awareness. The success of this category determines the success in all other categories of my life and so it is the most important category of my life.
What are my Sense of Self Dream Driven Goals?
- Learn more about myself to bring the best version of my most authentic self to my life, my relationships & the world.
- Learn more about, grow and stay grounded spiritually.
- Utilise, improve and learn more about my personal strategy.
Why are my Sense of Self goals important to me?
My Sense of Self has taken a bit of a battering over the past few years and so it’s pretty unstable at the moment. This means my entire life feels unstable – this is not a nice place to be and not somewhere I want to spend too much more time in!
Personal strategy keeps me on top of everything & ensures I get everything done with no stress, strain or pressure! The more visibility & understanding I have in my life, the more peaceful and contented I feel. When I don’t use my personal strategy I feel disorganised, overwhelmed, under pressure, stressed, less grounded, less happy & less fulfilled.
How will I achieve my Sense of Self goals?
- Learn more about spirituality, psychology and concepts of sense of self
- Follow my personal strategy and carry out regular reviews
- Prioritise solitude, reading and journaling
What metric will measure progress towards my Sense of Self goals?
- Learnings in terms of spirituality, psychology and concepts of sense of self
- Progress in personal strategy
- Time spent in solitude, reading and journaling
2. RELATIONSHIPS:
What are my relationship Dream Driven Goals?
To nurture & improve my relationships with Mike, my family & friends. This part of my life is really just about enjoying the company of those I love and who love me.
My beloved Dad passed away in 2023. Learning to live with my Dad’s physical absence is something that I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to. I don’t even know how my life actually functions without him, it’s just so incomprehensible.
Why are my relationship goals important to me?
My relationships with those I love are my greatest source of happiness and I want to ensure my relationships are given the time and attention that they deserve.
How will I achieve my relationship goals?
- Navigate the journey of grief for my beloved Dad which brings me much sadness
- Spend precious time with Mike, my family and friends which brings me much joy.
What metrics will measure progress towards my relationship goals?
There are no metrics for this category yet I capture the precious time I spend with those I love in photos and journaled memories.
3. HEALTH:
What are my health Dream Driven Goals?
To nurture & improve my mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.
Why are my health goals important to me?
My health is the foundation on which everything else is built – without health, nothing else can thrive. Over the past few years, my entire perspective on my health has changed. It is no longer about being healthy because I enjoy eating well, exercising and fitting into my clothes.
My health is now focused mostly on strengthening my mental health which supports all other areas of my health. Health is now about longevity and having fitness, strength & mobility to enjoy that longevity.
Dr Lisa Misconi says ‘Your health in mid life is the biggest determining factor of your health in later life’.
When I feel fit and healthy, I feel more grounded, happy, joyful, more at peace and content with myself & everything. When I feel fit and healthy, I feel less anxious, less overwhelmed and less stressed with myself & everything
How will I achieve my health goals?
I make the same health goals every year and have learned that progress is not linear. Some years I am at my healthiest, fittest and strongest and some years I am not. What matters is not so much linear progress, but what I learn about my health and the continuous work I put in to improve it.
1.Mental and emotional health:
Prioritise what supports my mental health – mental health is the most important element of overall health as without mental health, nothing else will function optimally.
Prioritise what supports my emotional life – I’m an Enneagram 4 and so pretty much live on my emotions! Managing my emotions needs to be a daily practise to stay sane!
2.Physical Health:
Continuously work on my physical health to be the healthiest, fittest and strongest I can be. I do this through embedding healthy habits for nutrition, exercise, sleep, relaxation etc. Here I schedule and monitor results of health check ups – bloods, scans, optician, dentist etc.
This element of my health is like a rollercoaster, sometimes it’s going down adn sometimes it’s going up!
3.Spiritual health
This is woven in with my Sense of Self goals above.
What metrics will measure progress towards my health goals?
- Health metrics of bmi, weight, nutrition, exercise, sleep etc
- Health checks completed and progress on same
4. FINANCE:
What are my finance Dream Driven Goals?
To achieve and enjoy financial freedom. Financial freedom is defined as ‘having sufficient income, savings or investments to live comfortably for life and meet all one’s obligations without relying on a salary’.
In his excellent book Money – Master the Game, Tony Robbins says financial freedom is ‘a long-term plan to build the life of your dreams. Tony also says ‘success is doing what you want to do, when you want, where you want, with whom you want, as much as you want, that’s also financial freedom’.
These definitions sit well with me and sum up my dreams for financial freedom!
Why are my finance goals important to me?
For me, financial freedom isn’t about having a certain amount of money or having the financial means to buy material things. Financial freedom is using finance to enjoy immense freedom in all the other areas of my life.
I want the freedom to have as much time as I want for the other areas of my life, to work for joy and not for the necessity of money and to contribute to the world in whatever way I want to
How will I achieve my finance goals?
1.Increase my financial value which is my total savings, investments and pensions (minus debt).
I find financial value is a better metric than earnings as while you could be staying on the same earnings, your financial value could be increasing depending on your savings and investments.
In stark contrast your earnings could be increasing but if you are not saving and investing, your financial value could be decreasing.
This year I have one large financial project and many smaller projects that will all increase my financial value and move me a few steps closer to financial freedom.
2. Spend and enjoy spending
This may sound like an unusual goal yet it’s as important to enjoy spending money as much as it’s important to earn and save money.
I’m not great at sticking to a budget but what I am very good at is monitoring spend in great detail. This ensures I know exactly how much I spend and can adjust my habits accordingly (before they do too much damage!).
Over the past few years I have dramatically reduced my spending, being without a salary is a good motivator to spend less!
3. Increase my income
I left the corporate world in late 2021 and my income dramatically reduced as a consequence. This reduction in earnings has resulted in abundance of another type. I have the abundance of time which brings me more joy than any amount of money ever could.
In saying that financial freedom doesn’t happen on it’s own and so this year my large financial project will increase my income when it is completed.
4. Learn more about finance
Finance isn’t my favourite subject yet if I want to get better at it, I have to learn more. I haven’t read many books on finance yet the books I have read have made a huge impact on me.and my financial decisions. Finance books I love can be found here, my favourite books.
What metrics will measure progress towards my finance goals?
- Total spend which is detailed, capital and business spend.
- Total financial value which is profit, property & pensions (minus debt).
- Total earnings and income.
- Progress in large and mini finance projects
5. WRITING/BUSINESS:
Over the past 3 years I have spent the least time in this category which is ironic as for the previous 25 years it is where I spent the most time! Even though I spend the least time here, it is the area of my life that is changing the most.
Having left my day job in late 2021, I took a break from. he working world for over 3 years and am now ready to return to work albeit in a very different way to before.
What are my work Dream Driven Goals?
- Be a writer and build my own business
- Practice and teach Lean philosophy
- Continuously learn and improve my skills
- Enjoy every minute of this process
Why are my work goals important to me?
My favourite thing to do is write and my second favourite thing to do is read which helps me be a better writer. I have always wanted to work for myself and have total freedom over my work, my time and my creativity. My business will be a channel to achieving financial freedom.
How will I achieve my work goals?
- Manage current income stream
- Set up a new income stream
- Create more time to read and write
- Continue to publish blog posts and social media posts
- Continue to send weekly emails – you can sign up to my weekly emails here
What metrics will measure progress towards my work goals?
- Progress in managing current income stream
- Progress in creating a new income stream
- Progress in creating more time to read and write
- Progress in writing blog posts and social posts
- Progress in writing weekly emails
6. EXPERIENCES/FUN:
What are my Dream Driven Goals?
To have enjoyable experiences, have fun and enjoy life.
WHY are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?
How will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals?
- Spend time with loved ones who make me smile, laugh and bring me so much joy.
- Plan experiences that bring me joy and make me feel alive.
What metrics will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?
There are no metrics in this category although I do ensure I capture fun times in photos and journaled memories.
7. ENVIRONMENT:
What are my Dream Driven Goals?
Improve and enjoy my environment which is our home on a personal level. Remove everything that doesn’t serve me and only keep what brings me joy.
Why are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?
Because it makes me feel good and I enjoy looking after & improving our living space.
How will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals?
Carry out Marie Kondo’s decluttering in our home. Marie’s overarching teaching is to remove anything from our homes that doesn’t spark joy! Marie’s book ‘The Magic Art of Tidying Up’ is a must for anyone who wants more space in their home and life!
What metrics will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?
Progress with Marie Kondo’s decluttering on our home.
8. CONTRIBUTION
What are my Dream Driven Goals?
To contribute to the world financially and also with my time & skills.
Why are my Dream Driven Goals important to me?
I want to give back to a world that has given and continues to give me so much.
How will I achieve my Dream Driven Goals?
I have been supporting 4 main charities that mean a lot to me for many years. All of these charity direct debits are currently on hold as I’m not working but I contribute financially to charities with once off payments.
Contribute to the world with my time & my skills – this means different things at different times
What metrics will measure progress towards my Dream Driven goals?
There are no metrics in this category just the joy of giving back!
That’s it, my 2025 goals.
Whatever your goals are for 2025, I wish you success, love, health and happiness as you live your best life every day.
If you want to follow my journey, you can sign up to my weekly newsletter by downloading my free ebook ‘The A-Z of Effective Change’ below.
Thanks for reading,
Siobhain
x x