How to set inspiring 2020 goals

Hi! A huge welcome to you from wherever you're watching in the world.

I'm Bec Sands. I help you pivot to a successful career or business that you love.

Today I am discussing how you can set inspiring goals for 2020 in all areas of your career or business and life. To do this, you’ll need to carve out at least 30 minutes so grab a cup of your favourite herbal tea, a notebook and pen, create some space for yourself on a meditation cushion or comfortable chair, diffuse your favourite essential oil or light a candle, and you might even like to play some relaxing music while you work through these questions.

Start your goal-setting session with a 10-minute meditation to clear away any busy thoughts to create a relaxed mind, ready to bring your new visions to life.

As a bonus, click here to receive my weekly emails and to download and listen to my inspired action meditation.

1.      Reflect on the good and not-so-good

The best way to start is by reflecting on everything you’ve achieved over the past year (and, given it’s a new decade, feel free to do a 10-year review!).

Grab a blank piece of paper or a notebook and a pen. Now, draw a line down the middle of the page and at the top of the left column, write “Great” and in the right column, put down “Not so great”.

The idea is to create more of the left-hand column and let go of the not-so-great moments in order to effectively move forward.

Write at least 50 things in the “Great” column – things that you’ve achieved in 2019 and in the last decade. What are you proud of? What were your accomplishments? These can be big – for example, landing a new job or promotion, moving house, having kids, finishing a course, or letting go of something that’s not serving you anymore. Or they could be smaller – like cleaning out your wardrobe, or going for a walk three times a week, or getting/giving flowers.

In the “not so good” column, write as many things as you want to get off your chest. As a rule of thumb, if you are still feeling some emotion around it, you’re still holding onto it. If you’re still grieving, this is totally okay and you need to go through that. But if you are ready to let it go, write it down!

2.      Thank your not-so-good list and draw a line through it

In order to move on from our not-so-good moments and create more of what we want, we need to forgive ourselves and others and let go. Forgiveness doesn’t mean suggesting that what happened was acceptable or excusable – instead, it simply means acceptance that it happened and it’s time to move on.

Go through each item on the list and think about each for a moment. As you’re going through, think to yourself, I forgive this situation and am ready to move on. Then, cross a line through each. Remember, things happen for you – not to you. I believe that the universe provides us with situations that offer us the chance to learn. For further reading on this topic, check out Gabrielle Bernstein’s book The Universe Has Your Back.

3.      How do you want to feel in 2020?

Before you can effectively set goals, it’s important to know how you want to feel.

In your notebook, write down as many words as you want about how you would like to feel in 2020. Then, circle your top three to five words.

These are your words for 2020 and will help to drive your decisions around the way you spend your time and the goals you set.

Some example words are:

Aligned, confident, free, energetic, flow, ease, joy, connection, health, action, love…

4.      Set your macro goals for 2020

Now that you’ve reflected on your past year or decade, and you know how you want to feel moving forward, it’s time to start setting your macro goals.

I call them ‘macro goals’ because they should be overarching and inspiring, feelings based and positive. Then, the specific steps and actions come under the goals.

For example, a goal could be “be the fittest and healthiest I can be” rather than “lose 5 kgs”.

Make the goals challenging – go outside of your comfort zone. Try something you’ve never done before in order to stretch and improve. As an example, this year I ran the 10km Blackmores mini-marathon and in 2020 I am aiming to do the 21km Melbourne half-marathon.

5.      Identify your WHY

Underneath each goal, write WHY you want to achieve it. This will help you to stay connected to your goals even when it gets challenging or obstacles come up.

Your goals may actually evolve and change throughout the year, and that’s totally okay as well. The most important part about achieving your goals is the growth you go through to get to them, and the person you become, as well as the feeling you get when you are moving towards them and achieving them. (See point 3!).

So, there you have it – how to set inspiring goals for 2020. Once you have your goals, you can create actions underneath them to start taking steps towards them. Put timeframes on these actions and then take out your diary and literally schedule in some time for these actions. If it’s not scheduled, generally I find that it’s not a priority and it doesn’t get done.

That’s it from me today! Make sure you’ve subscribed to my free weekly emails for more tips on how to pivot your career, find clarity and make a great income doing what you love, as well as get updates on the Career Pivot Podcast which is launching on Jan 1, at becsands.com.

For those of you in Sydney, I’m also hosting a two-hour goal-setting workshop in person on Saturday, 11 January to set you up for an incredible 2020. At the workshop we’ll dive even deeper into goal setting and actually carve out the space to think and feel your way towards what you want to achieve, connect with other amazing people and get inspired. Included in the workshop will be light refreshments and a workbook. It will be an incredible morning – I can’t wait! To find out more and get tix, visit becsands.com/events.

Thanks for watching, and have a great day!