The first part of August is a signal that the end of the calendar year is fast approaching. We still have a few months to put points on the board and time to make meaningful progress to accomplish what we set out to do this year.

It’s the perfect time to revisit our old friend… our goals. And not just revisit what we said we wanted to accomplish to start the year, I want us to look at what we want to accomplish between now and the end of the year.

Looking at this smaller chunk of time is a motivating exercise because of the length of time… long enough for us to affect the outcome and short enough to envision what we can actually do. A real sweet spot.

Let’s first make sure that we’re on the same page with the best purpose of a goal. On the surface a goal is simply something that we currently don’t have that we want in a designated time frame. A goal is really the end point to a destination. Understanding where you’re at now and where you want to be at the destination will do the most important thing – inform the route you take to get there.

The best goals are also tied to our values. What do we care about? What is meaningful to us? Our goals should have a tie to those things. If you value happiness, how does your goal help you be more happy? If you value empowering people, how does your goal help you to empower more people? Wrapping your core values into your goals also gives you extra motivation to achieve them.

If we agree that our goals should be a destination which we set our actions to achieve and those goals should tie into our values, it makes sense to involve all of our Xperiential pillars.

For each pillar – career, relationships, personal growth, wealth, health, spirituality – walk through these four questions to set your destination with clarity.

What will you accomplish by the end of the year?
What’s important to you about that?
What’s the last thing that has to happen so that you know you accomplished it?
What will you feel when you get there?

When each of your pillars has specific goals between now and the end of the year, each goal is tied to your values, you know exactly what winning looks like and you know how you want to feel you have the full recipe for success and fulfillment.