3 goals for work-life balance

April 29, 2014 at 12:00 AM
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Just as a wheel must be perfectly balanced to rotate smoothly, your life must be in balance for you to feel happy and effective. To achieve a good work-life balance, you must tend to these three types of goals:

      1.    Goal setting for your business and career (What do you really want?) The first category of goal includes business, career and financial goals. These are the tangible, measurable things that you want to achieve as the result of your efforts at work. These are the ''whats'' that you want to accomplish in life.

When you go about setting goals for your business and career, you must ensure that they're tangible. You must be absolutely clear about how much you want to earn, and in what time period you want to earn it. You must be clear about how much you want to save, invest and accumulate, and when you want to acquire these assets. Remember, you can't hit a target that you can't see.

      2.    Your purpose in achieving your goals. (Why do you want to achieve your goals?) The second goal category consists of personal, family and health goals. In reality, these are the most important goals of all in determining your happiness and well-being. These are called the ''why'' goals because they are the reasons you want to achieve your business, career and financial goals. They are your true aim and purpose in life.

Many people become so involved with their careers and financial goals that they lose sight of the reasons why they wanted financial success in the first place. They get their priorities mixed up. As a result, their lives get out of balance. They start to feel stressed and become angry or frustrated. No matter how hard they work to achieve their business and financial goals, they don't seem to enjoy any more peace, happiness or satisfaction.

What they need is to bring their goals back into the right order and realize that work and financial goals are a means to an end—which is enjoying family and relationships. They are not the ends in themselves.

      3.    Personal development goals. (How do you achieve your goals?) The third type of goal centers on professional growth and personal development. These are the ''how'' goals. Goal setting, learning and practicing new skills and behaviors are how you achieve the ''what'' in order to enjoy the ''why.''

By working to improve yourself, you can become the kind of person who is capable of achieving your business, career and financial goals. Your personal, family and health goals will come faster and more easily.

By working on these three types of goals simultaneously, you can maintain a healthy work-life balance while continuing to move onward and upward.

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Brian Tracy is the CEO of Brian Tracy International, which specializes in business training, and the author of the best-selling Psychology of Achievement. For more information, go to www.briantracy.com

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