Do you have personal goal list? Well, you should.

Creating your own personal goal list is a fantastic exercise to figure out what you want to do with your life. Ask yourself what you want your life to look like in 6 months, a year, or 10 years. What do you want to look in the mirror and see down the line?

The best way to make your future self happy is to dust off the cobwebs and get crackin!

I strongly urge you to consider picking out some of these ideas below and making a goal board for yourself. Keep track of your progress and keep working. Let me tell you, completing a goal after putting a ton of work in is extremely satisfying.

Each goal idea below will also have suggestions for tasks to do right away. The most important thing to accomplishing any goal is to break it down into bite size chunks so you can work your way towards it.

For example, if your goal is to travel more, you need to first make sure you have a passport. Some of the first steps are obvious, but what is never obvious is the work that it takes to do those simple steps. Getting our passports was a lengthy process, and if we hadn’t decided that we wanted to travel more we may not have mustered the energy to get them.

We all know that there are many things in our life that are completely out of our control. However, with goals we can make things easier on ourselves. We can reach greater heights than we would have even thought possible.

You need to know what you are heading towards if you have any real hope of getting there.

Decide on one goal or several, but once you pick a few commit to working out the small steps that will bring the goal to completion.

Personal Goal Idea # 1: -Get Involved in Your Community-

For the past 7 months my wife and I have been attending a church called Life Fellowship here in Cornelius NC. It has been fantastic for our growth not only individually, but also as a couple. Our minds are open to new possibilities, and we truly want to do more with our lives.

When my wife and I first moved to Salisbury NC at the beginning of 2016 we were unable to attend a church due to the fact that we worked on Sundays. We had no idea how much we missed being part of a community of believers until we once again started attending regularly.

I strongly encourage you to consider making church a regular part of your routine. Attending helps to keep us grounded, as well as guides us to the next step. It helps keep us accountable for making a difference in the lives of other people. It also acts a starting point for being able to get involved.

Just recently, an organization called Love Life Charlotte spoke at our church. Their passion is ending abortion in Charlotte. Their president Justin was able to speak and share his vision. Talk about opportunity to serve!

This is one of the great benefits of church that people forget. We go to learn about God, but also to learn about how we can help other people. Would anyone in their right mind argue against doing what we can for others? No.

Learning how to make a personal goal list starts with figuring out what is going on in your life. Guess what? Church can help with that, big time!

Even if you aren’t religious, no problem, this post will still be helpful for you. I just share my own experiences because finding a like-minded community to be a part of is a great way to take care of yourself and your family.

Going to church regularly and being around people that really and truly care has helped me to become the man I am today. However, it is so much more than just that. It is about making a difference in your local community and the world at large.

Action Step: Join a local church or find a place to volunteer near you. 

Personal Goal Idea # 2:

-Debt Free-

Being debt free is a fantastic goal to have. Unfortunately, it can be an extremely difficult goal to accomplish in today’s day and age. As of 2015, 8 in 10 Americans were in debt.

In order to be debt free you have to make it a goal. There is no way around that. If you just forget about it and pay off the minimum monthly fee and nothing more, it will be quite a long time before you are able to be rid of it.

My wife and I still have a ton of college debt, but we have a goal to be rid of it. To accomplish that goal we utilize a method called “The Snowball” that we learned about from going through Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey. We learned the importance of budgeting and still have regular budget meetings (not all that official) to discuss things even though we took the class almost 5 years ago.

Being debt free is a goal that we are actively pursuing, but it won’t happen overnight. In order to pay off all of our college debt we have to keep working at it and remain persistent.

Action step: Pay off your smallest loan/credit card first. This will give you the momentum you need to keep going. 

Personal Goal Idea # 3:

-Write a Book-

Everyone has a book in them. Yes, that means you. You have a unique perspective of the world around you and the world deserves to hear it.

I personally love writing, and have written 4 books. Are these books full length novels? No. They didn’t even take me that long to write and publish.

The good news? You can write a book even if you don’t like to write, hate computers, or have limited time. There are many different companies that will walk you through the self-publishing process, and will take care of any part of the process for you if so desire. These companies (Archangel Ink, Lulu.com, Book Baby, etc.) exist to make things easy on you so you can get your book out there.

Still don’t believe me? Here are 12 more reason to write a book.

Action Step: Read my post on self-publishing your first book. 

Personal Goal Idea # 4:

-Keep A Journal-

I used to think that journaling was just something that teenage girls did on their beds with the first up, giggling all the while.

I was dead wrong. Keeping a journal has been a great way for me to get my thoughts out on paper (or on my computer in my case).

I first learned about journaling through a book called Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald. In the book he gave a lot of tips on getting your personal world in order before you were able to make a difference for anyone else. Truthfully I don’t remember any of the other tips other than journaling, but it stuck with me.

Make it a goal to journal your thoughts down at least one time per week. Every day isn’t doable for me, but if you want to do it more you are more than welcome.

The cool thing is that you can write whatever you want. No one else is going to see it but you. Getting your thoughts out in this way allows you to see where you have been, where you are at currently, and where you would like to go.

Action Step: Start a journal TODAY and write in it once a week. 

Personal Goal Idea # 5:

-Lose Weight-

Losing weight is a goal that everyone seems to have but not many seem to be able to accomplish. It’s HARD to do! Trust me, I know the struggle.

My weight loss journey is chronicled in my book The Action Diet. Check it out if you want, but it isn’t necessary if you want to accomplish the goal of losing weight and actually keep it off. There is only ONE way to actually accomplish this and it isn’t something that’s easy to hear.

You have to make small changes to your lifestyle.

This is the only method that will work over time. There is no diet fad out there that will accomplish your goal unless you stick with it. If you decide to become a vegan, go paleo, or go on the all meat diet, more power to you. Just know that this can’t be a temporary fix. You need to do something that works for you and fits your lifestyle.

Obviously, weight loss is a complicated subject and I don’t intend to oversimplify it. However, if you want to make it a goal and see success, you will have to work at it with everything you have.

Action step: Make small meaningful changes to your lifestyle. Go for walks every day after dinner, have water instead of soda, find an active hobby that you love.  

Personal Goal Idea # 6:

-Get Better Sleep-

Accomplishing the goal of getting better sleep requires a shift in bedtime habits. Getting the right amount of sleep (7-8 hours) is crucial for long term healthy function of our bodies, but getting quality sleep is equally as important.

I will tell you, as of this writing my wife and I are still working at our jobs at the retirement community. We are on call four nights a week, and our sleep quality on those nights is not great. We don’t get an emergency call every single one of those 4 nights, but the threat of the phone ringing is enough to put you on edge.

If you want better sleep the key ingredient is to have a bedtime routine and learning how to optimize your sleep schedule. For me, I meditate every night before bed. I plugin the phone, set my alarm, and don’t look at it again, and I take my time to stretch and let me mind calm down. I love this routine, and I think it is solely responsible for getting to sleep faster and sleeping better.

For more sleeping tips click here and here.

Action Step: Before you go to bed tonight take 5 minutes to calm your mind and stretch before getting into bed. 

Personal Goal Idea # 7:

-Travel More-

Traveling is something that both exhilarates and frightens me. I don’t like going to new places, but at the same time I love it. I get nervous every time the plane takes off, but once we are in the air it is truly amazing to travel so quickly to a new place.

Back in November of 2015 my wife and I took a train trip across the US. We went from Baltimore, Maryland all the way to San Francisco, California. It was the best trip I have ever been on and I loved every minute of it (minus the in between stressful travel parts like getting tickets, finding the right train etc., but that is part of it!) *For more on this trip, see the pictures in the slider below.

Indeed, traveling is good for the brain. I felt this keenly while we were travelling and viewing never before seen places in the US. Going through the Rocky Mountains of Denver and the Sierra Nevada’s in California was breathtaking. The experience felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Walking around San Francisco was also really cool. Living on the East Coast all my life, the world just seems different over on the West Coast. And this is only within my own Country! I can’t even imagine how different other places would feel and how much the experience would change me for the better.

Don’t let excuses like not having enough money get in your way. Here are 20 Money Saving travel tips.

For even more see: 10 Ways Travel can Improve Your Health and Happiness

Action Step: Plan a trip for yourself or your family. You don’t need to go far, but go somewhere you have never gone before. Be wary though, you will soon catch the travel bug and want to go someplace new as often as possible!

Personal Goal Idea # 8:

-Start a Side Hustle-

Starting a side Hustle is fun, there is no doubt about it. But it can also be an major part of your income.

I personally love my current side hustles (writing kindle books, audio editing, affiliate marketing, blogging, general marketing, outreach, podcasting (very soon!) etc.) There are literally thousands of different side hustles that you could get into. The possibilities are pretty much endless.

Any skill that you have that others would pay for is a side hustle. This could include fixing TV’s for the elderly, sewing buttons back on pants, or conducting research for authors. If you are good at something, there is a 100% chance that someone else is not, and there is also a pretty good chance that there are people out there that will pay you to do it for them.

The idea is to find something that you really enjoy and will stick with. This is absolutely key if you want your passion to intersect with real life at some point. If you are passionate about something, you can find a way to do it full time.

Having a side hustle will give you something to do outside of work, completely on your own time. This side hustle could eventually turn into something that you do full time. Can you even imagine how awesome it would be to quit your 9-5 and do what you love? Its possible for sure, but you need to do something in order to make that happen, and it might as well be what you love.

For ideas you can visit Nick Loper’s site over at Side Hustle Nation. He is a pretty cool dude with a lot of good tips and tricks. Make sure you check it out. Or see here for more Part-Time Side Business Ideas, or here for tips on starting your own business.

Action Step: Listen to Pat Flynn’s Podcast Episodes about Smart Passive Income. I think they are 12-14 specifically.

Personal Goal Idea # 9:

-Take up a New Hobby-

Ever been interested in performing magic or writing poems? How about sailing on the lake or mastering the slingshot? There is a ridiculous amount of value in being creative and doing interesting things. Creative originals are the people who change the world for the better.

Only true creatives would think that we could go to the Moon, abolish slavery, and establish the internet. You have to think outside the box when society tells you “that’s not possible stupid.”

Challenging the status quo is important not only to our own personal growth, but to the growth of our community and beyond. Greatness is not achieved by being normal and doing boring everyday things.

So please, you have my permission to be weird if you so desire. If you are interested in something just do it. Pick one of these cheap hobbies or try one of these 90 hobbies for men and have fun. Dare to be a little bit different.

Action Step: Try new things and get to know yourself better. Pick one new hobby and do it just because. 

Personal Goal Idea # 10:

-Learn a New Language-

I’ll start this one out by saying this is one of my goals. I am nowhere near completion. I took Spanish in college AND high school and was terrible at it.

I know this one is going to be a major struggle for me when I finally sit down to do it. I am still secretly hoping that by the time I decide to do it they will invent a fool proof pocket translator that will save me the hassle. Come on Google, you can do it!

Besides just the exciting challenge (and painful learning curve) Learning a new language is fantastic for your brain. There is nothing really like training yourself to talk, comprehend, and even write using completely foreign words and letters.

Here are 12 reasons to learn a new language. 

Action Step: Decide what language you might want to learn and start. If you decide to learn Klingon more power to you, but you might want to stick with learning a slightly more popular language, like any other one…

Personal Goal Idea # 11:

-Boost Personal Confidence-

Confidence is the key to the universe.

If you have confidence and believe in yourself you will be a better spouse, friend, boss, etc. Having more confidence in yourself will make all of the difference in every aspect of your life.

So stop getting down on yourself. Stop looking in the mirror with anything but a smile and a self-appreciative nod to yourself. Stop putting yourself down.

Men have more natural confidence than women, and thus are not as easily affected by this. I have always been confident, even though there are definite stages of my life where I should have been less confident and more realistic about my abilities.

If you are interested in learning more about confidence, particularly as it applies to women, check out Katie Kay’s book called the Confidence Code. My wife read it and thought it was very interesting.

Ultimately, confidence comes from loving yourself and being true to who God made you to be. We were not all born to be world-leaders, Olympic athletes, Or Iron Man.

What we were born for is to make a difference in the world, even in a small way. There is a way that YOU alone can have an impact. If that truth doesn’t inspire confidence I don’t know what will.

Action step: Tell yourself that you are awesome. Don’t fall into the trap that you aren’t worth it. Do one small thing today that you will be proud of accomplishing. 

Personal Goal Idea # 12:

-Strengthen Relationships-

Creating deep and meaningful relationships with people is a fantastic goal to have, but it isn’t always easy. Here are a few suggestions on creating and fostering deeper connections with family, friends, and colleagues.

• Write a letter to your Mom and/or grandmother. They will love and adore you for it. Better yet, write a letter to your in-laws telling them how much you appreciate being part of the family. Don’t do this for the inevitable extra love from your spouse, do it to show that you care.
• Join a Life Group of sorts within a local church. My wife and are in a group and after only a few months we have already made some great friends. This group’s purpose is to do life together which means many different things, but it is a group that is there for each other and has already proven to be invaluable.
• Tell your wife she is beautiful or tell your husband he makes you proud. Make sure that your spouse is the most important person in your life. If that is not the case, you have a problem that needs fixing. Get on it.
• Volunteer. Giving back your time will introduce you to other people that also find it valuable to serve in some capacity. There is also no better feeling that giving back just because you can.
• Take a friend out to dinner. Pay for their meal and ask them what you can do for them.

Action Step: Make it a point to do something new and unexpected for a loved one. 

Personal Goal Idea # 13:

-Become an Action Taker-

I am convinced that the #1 reason people fail at achieving goals is because they don’t take action. I am not alone in this. If you listen to highly successful Business people like Pat Flynn you will hear them say that you MUST take action in order to succeed.

Make it a personal goal to get better at taking action. There is no better skill you can learn in life that to take small action steps towards a goal. Don’t say you will do it “someday.” Make a plan, make it a priority, and make it happen.

When my wife and I moved down the NC we were forced to take action. No one was going to make it happen for us. We alone had to search for jobs and figure out all of the details in moving. It wasn’t easy, but once we decided we wanted to do it, there was nothing that could stop us.

Convince yourself that as long as you are working towards your goal you will eventually accomplish it. You can and definitely will get sidetracked frequently. Even in doing any of the personal goals I listed here, you will likely get off track.

Learn to quickly get back on track and get going back in the right direction. Please, do not live yourself wondering what could have been, God does not want us to live lives of comfort and ease. He wants us to use the time that is given to us and take action.

Action Step: An action step on taking action? Easy. Just do something small that will put ANY one of your goals on the map. Even making a goal board counts as an action step. 

I even wrote a whole book on this subject. You can check that out here if you so desire. 

Bonus: 10 of My Own Personal Goals

Thanks for sticking around and checking out my ideas for personal goals. Hopefully at least one of them will fit your needs and you can set yourself up for success.

As an added bonus, here are 10 of my life goals. These are ones I have not yet completed, but am working towards constantly and taking action whenever possible. Some of these goals might never come to fruition, and that is okay. I believe in dreaming big and doing our best to try new things and reach new heights.

1. Pay off all of my student loans.
2. Open a Bagel/Coffee shop with Miranda (my wife)
3. Hike the Inca Trail to Machu Pichu
4. Go for a week long Hike In Iceland (this is planned for 2018)
5. Get a Fiction novel published by KDP Scout
6. Record and Produce my own Audio Book
7. Be a guest on Pat Flynn’s Podcast
8. Try out hang gliding and try not to die
9. Make a full length music video with Miranda
10. Kayak the Lofoton islands of Norway