Set Birthday Goals
If your birthday involves some annual introspection—maybe even a little dismay at the passing of time?—take heart. This is going to be your age. We hope you have a very happy birthday. And this birthday goals ritual is for you!
To prepare, reserve yourself an hour during your birthday week. It's your birthday, so make it special! Maybe you can take yourself out to lunch or get up an hour before the rest of your family. Maybe a celebratory drink or a cupcake with sprinkles is involved. Knock yourself out! You'll also need some paper and pens for the goal setting part.
First, journal for a few minutes using the following goal setting prompts.
The Past Year
What are your favorite memories of the past year? When were you the happiest since your last birthday? What did you accomplish that you are the most proud of? What friends did you spend your life with?
What was the highlight of each month of the last year? If you need help with this part, go through your phone photos and reflect on what you chose to document recently. Try writing out a calendar of 12 boxes and put something in each month.
Next Year
Picture yourself a year from now, on your next birthday. Wish yourself a happy birthday. What is your future self happy about? What is your future self proud of?
Make a Goal Map
Turn to a blank sheet of paper and write the age you're turning in the middle of the page. You'll be doing your birthday goal setting on this page.
Pick Your Categories
Pick the general categories that you want to write goals in. You might choose, for example: Career, Family, Creative, Hobbies, Health, and Financial. (Or maybe you do your financial goal setting quarterly! More on that here. In that case, you may want to leave them off this list. No need to overdo it on the financial goals.)
Choose Your Goals
Now it's time for the actual goal setting. Go through the categories one at a time and brainstorm three goals in each category to complete your birthday bucket list. Write each birthday goal idea on your goals chart and draw an arrow to the category in a glorious spiderweb of goals.
Really think about where you want to be in a year in each of these categories. And focus on your journey. Think: Will it make you happy, a year from now, to be able to play a particular song on the guitar, or will the journey of practicing and experimenting be what makes you happy? (Plus, what if you get tired of the song after a month?) If it's the experience rather than the outcome that will make you happy (hint: this is a strong possibility), make your goal “Practice the guitar for half an hour three times a week” rather than “Master this song on the guitar.”
Decide on one goal idea in each category of life to really focus on this year. Try writing about its importance to you in your journal or on your goals page. Post your "why" alongside the plans you create so you can reflect on it when you are trying to get focused to achieve it.
Anatomy of a Goal
As soon as you start goal-setting, you will probably run across someone in the business world or personal development world talking about SMART goals. (Here's more about SMART goals from Forbes.)
SMART usually stands for:
S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Attainable
R: Relevant
T: Time-bound
There are a few variations on this acronym out there, with people arguing about what’s the most effective and guarantees the most success. Here’s a very quick intro.
Specific/Measurable
What is your big-picture goal? Think about it, and then start refining it to be as specific as possible. Use measurable numbers that you can track. For instance, you might set a goal to write a certain number of words on your novel every month in the coming year. Or you might host a certain number of games nights at your house. Or you might set aside a certain amount of money to use as a downpayment on your first house.
You have to be able to measure your goals so you can decide on a process and explore your options. Make sure to specify an amount of money or number of blog posts or other figure you can track.
Time-bound
Draw yourself a timeline. Where do you want to be in five and in ten years? To get there, where do you want to be in one year? That's why birthdays are such a great time for goal setting. You're going to reflect on past birthdays anyway, and you probably remember where you were in life at each!
Now is your chance to break your goals down into smaller chunks with smaller time increments too. This means you'll make an intentional schedule and not wait until summer or luck for every one of your goals. (Obviously, if you create goals that involve a specific trip or other time-bound event, you don't have to break them down.) How much of each goal will you accomplish every week or month? You can conquer the world week by week.
Relevant
Are your goals going to help you achieve your big-picture vision? Will they truly contribute to creating the amazing life you want? The more relevant they are to what you want to accomplish and how you define success for yourself, the easier it will be to stay focused and inspired.
And—this is important—do they rely on YOU? That is, you can set a goal to apply for a new job, but you can’t make a goal to get a new job, because that relies on someone else hiring you. You can't set a goal to make more money, but you can set a new goal to do something in particular that will make you more money. You can't set a goal to amass a certain number of social media followers, but you can set goals around actually launching a blog or writing a post (or a bunch of posts) every week. You can't set a goal to lose a certain number of pounds, but you can set a goal to exercise twice a week. You get the idea.
Attainable
It’s okay to push yourself a little, but is your goal actually possible? And is it possible on the timeline you’ve specified? On the other hand, don’t make it too easy. You wouldn’t want to be bored!
So make sure each goal is realistic, but would still be an accomplishment. You want to stretch a little in your goal setting and make yourself proud next year, not fill your next twelve months of life with stress. Remember, there's no such thing as the perfect goals, unless you have a crystal ball.
Have fun! Dream up some fun, creative goals and complement them with ones that will make you more secure and healthy over the upcoming year.
Get Started on Your Birthday Goals
Next, go through your birthday goals list one item at a time. How will you work this goal into your life? Do you need to download an app, set an alarm, start a habit tracker, or send a text inviting a friend or family member to do something with you? Can you split up the goal by month or quarter and set an intermediate goal to start working toward?
Don't Forget to Revise
As this year goes by, if one of your birthday goals no longer serves you, you have our permission to cross it off your list. Maybe you are hoping for something in this moment that you change your mind about or completely missed an aspect of. Or, if something unexpected happens, like a global pandemic hits, cross them all off as needed with no guilt. (Sorry, 2020 goals.) Give yourself some grace and be proud of the progress you do make.
Create new goals if you want to, adjust the goals you did make, or just wait and try again with new goals on your next birthday. It's a process!
What’s Next?
Get to it. See you back here next year, when it will be time to set birthday goals you can only dream of now. The year ahead will inspire them, so go enjoy the process. Happy birthday, and have a wonderful year!
Looking for some ideas for birthday gift experiences to celebrate with? Here are some ideas to get you started! We also have journal prompts based on your zodiac sign. And if you would like some birthday worksheets to go along with this post, they’re in our etsy store! Good luck on all your goals!
