Monthly Goals

Monthly goals are an important piece of Defining My Day. All of your weekly milestones and daily priorities will flow from your monthly goals. Your monthly goals will come from your vision of your ideal self. What is your ideal self? I don’t know. Do you?

Your Ideal Self

Your ideal self may change as you grow and change. At one point, you may have wanted to have been a fireman, a nurse, or an astronaut. You may have wanted to be a stockbroker, married with a family large enough to field a baseball team, or own a private jet. Whatever your goals at any point in life, they most likely changed as you grew and found what you did, and did not, like in life.

The same concept holds true here. We create goals, not as hard and fast rules that we have to follow, but as a vision of what we want to become. That vision may change as we draw closer to it. As it becomes more clear, we may not like what we see and change course. They key is to keep moving forward. The time is going to pass anyway, we might as well grow and move with intent.

The Define My Day process is the daily activity that will take you down the road more efficiently as you learn it and about yourself. Even if you don’t have a clear vision of your Ideal Self, you can still get moving in the right direction.

Finding Your Ideal Self

With such a changing image of what may be ideal, how can you find your ideal self? Constant re-evaluation, a willingness to be wrong, and the stamina to keep moving forward with the best of intentions.

Start with looking forward to your final day on earth. It’s a morbid thought, I know, but try it anyway. Who is around you? What are they doing? What is life like? What would you regret most? What are you most thankful for? Now, come back. What do you need to change based on that vision?

Next, think ahead to the ideal you ten years from now. The perfect version of yourself. Picture where you are, who you are with, how much money you make, where you live… anything that is important to you. Live that perfect moment.

What would that person be doing today to achieve all of that? That’s what you need to do now.

Your Monthly Goals

Your monthly goals come from that vision of you in ten years. That vision won’t become reality unless you work for it now. What do you need to accomplish this month to move toward that vision?

At the beginning of the Define My Day journal, you will answer a few questions to set your goals for the month. Keep them realistic but make sure that they push your limits. They should be consistent with your vision of your ideal self ten years from now. You will create your weekly milestones from these overall monthly goals.

In this section, you will also identify a book that you will read this month. To continuously gain greater awareness and skill mastery, it is important to educate yourself and reading is a vital behavior.

Finally, identify who around you will also benefit from your progress. Identifying external reasons for your progress will help you see the benefit of your growth and, in times of struggle, give you another reason other than your desires to persist in your journey.