10 Must Read Goal Planning Articles For the New Year

A new year is here, and it’s time to start planning. Rather than share all kinds of ideas and ways for you to set goals in this article, I’m going to share 10 articles from around the web that’ll help you set your goals.

Normally, I like to write some epic blog post on how to hit your goals, but this year I thought I’d let everyone else share their goal-setting tips.  I also want to thank everyone who submitted an article for this post, and before we get started, I just want to share a quote that William H. Dwight shared with me.

“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” ~Jim Rohn

If you haven’t set your goals for 2016 yet, take time to get it done today and use the articles below to help you out.  Also, be sure to check the end of the article where I’ll share my goals for 2016.

10 Articles to Help You With Your Goals

#1  How to Set Stoic Goals – Daily Stoic

In this article, the ancient Stoic philosophers had a brilliant approach to goals that modern science backs up: stop chasing outcomes you can’t control and focus on what you can.

As Epictetus put it, “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” Instead of setting goals like “become famous” or “get rich,” Stoics focused on internal targets—being disciplined, showing up daily, and doing excellent work.

This isn’t about lowering your ambitions; it’s about raising your odds of success. When you concentrate on the process rather than the prize, you eliminate the anxiety and procrastination that derail most people, while building the consistent habits that actually create extraordinary results.

Marcus Aurelius conquered an empire not by obsessing over victories, but by committing to “be the man that philosophy tried to make him”—one decision, one day at a time.

#2  Personal Goal Setting – Planning to Live Your Life Your Way by Mind Tools

I found this article while searching the net, and found a lot of valuable nuggets in here.  

This article covers everything from setting your long-term goals to your short-term goals.  This article also gives a lot of great tips to set up your goals the right way.

#3  10 Steps to Success with Goal by Kylie Travers

In this article, Kylie Travers shares a great 10-step process you need to follow in order to achieve successful goals.  I personally like the part about knowing yourself and what you can actually accomplish.

I used to do this in the past, setting goals that didn’t reflect my value system, and I rarely hit those goals simply because I didn’t believe in them.

#4  My Goal Setting Process – Ann Shen

Ann Shen has a simple, fun approach to setting goals that actually work. She starts by looking back at what went well and what didn’t, then picks one word to guide her year instead of making complicated resolutions—like choosing “Fun” to focus on enjoying every part of life.

The key is making goals specific and measurable: instead of saying “start a YouTube channel,” say “post one video per month.” She believes in mixing serious goals with enjoyable ones because “when I focus on what feels fun to me, everything flows naturally.”

Her method is all about writing things down, keeping it simple, and making sure your goals actually excite you rather than stress you out.

#5  The Importance of Visualizing Your Goals by Don Dulin

You can have all the best tips and systems in the world when it comes to goal setting, but if you can’t actually see yourself hitting those goals, then you’re dead in the water before you even start.  

This is why you need to visualize achieving your goals. This article does a great job of showing you how to do that.

#6 Goal Setting for People Who HATE Thinking about the Future by Whitney Hansen Coaching

Whitney has a great video that shares a unique way she goes about goal setting by using a 90 plan.  

I personally love this idea because setting goals 5 years, 3 years, or even 1 year in advance can be a bit overwhelming.  The thing is, you can’t predict what is going to happen in the next 5 years, let alone the next year.

By focusing on the next 90 days and aiming for short, fast goals, you’re more likely to see quick wins, keeping you motivated and pushing you forward.

#7 Build Wealth with this Goal Setting System by Financial Mentor

This is a really well-written article by Todd Tresidder.  If your goal for the year is to build wealth, then this is the article for you.  One thing I like about this article is that Todd mentions having more goals won’t lead to success.  Focus on fewer goals for the best results instead.

That is some huge advice.  I used to be one of those guys who set 20 goals every year and didn’t hit one of them.  Today I set fewer goals, but ones I truly feel I want to achieve.

This article also shares a 7-step annual system to use to build true wealth.  This system covers everything from the questions you should be asking yourself when setting up your goals to how to maintain focus and review your goals regularly.

#8 One Simple Trick to Push Forward When You’re Ready to Quit by Money Manifesto

This article hits the nail on the head for me this year.  In this article, Lance talks about the one simple thing you should do to push forward when you feel like quitting, and believe me, quitting has entered my mind a lot in the last 8 years of online business.

In the article, Lance shares how accountability is the best way to stick to your goals and keep moving forward, and this is actually one of my goals for the year, which I’ll share more about below.  So if staying accountable to your goals is hard for you, then you’ll want to check this article out.

#9  Goal Setting Templates

Miro offers a collection of visual goal-setting templates that make planning and tracking objectives simple and collaborative.

Their templates include everything from SMART goal frameworks to business roadmaps and even creative tools like Mandala Charts that help you “visualize the relationships between a central theme and its sub-themes.”.

What makes these templates useful is that they’re designed for teamwork—multiple people can edit and track progress in real-time, which creates accountability and keeps everyone on the same page.

The key benefits are “clarity and focus,” measurable progress tracking, and the ability to customize templates for anything from personal development to strategic business planning.

Instead of struggling with blank documents or complex software, you can pick a pre-made template, fill in your specific goals, assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and start tracking progress immediately.

#10  100 Days of Goal Setting with John Lee Dumas by Amy Porterfield

Last but not least, I also listened to this great podcast with Amy Porterfield, where she chats with John Lee Dumas about his new product called the Freedom Journal.  

This journal is designed to help people plan, set, and achieve their biggest goals in 100 days.  You can learn more about The Freedom Journal by checking it out here.  ( Not an affiliate link)

My Goals For 2016

So what are my goals for the year?

My goal planning has gone in a bit of a different direction this year.  Instead of writing out a bunch of goals for the year, I decided to get more specific with my goals by focusing on my habits that lead to the goals I want to achieve.

Below are the habit goals I want to achieve this year.

• Read 10 pages a day.  Reading is something I love to do, and there are a bunch of books that I would like to read (believe me, they’re all piling up on my nightstand), and it’s also something that could really help me improve and grow my business.  The problem is, I could set a goal to read 12 books this year, but if I don’t make a habit out of it, I know it’ll never happen for me.

• Review and Plan My Finances Every Week.  My finances are another area I want to improve in.  It’s not that I don’t make enough money, but it’s more that I want to do a better job of managing what I already have.  In fact,t my wife Lori and I have already had a talk about how we plan to do this and we’ve already begun to implement a zero-based budget and the cash envelope system into our finances.

• Be More Consistent With My Online Business.  As I reflected on last year, I’ve found the reason why I just don’t seem to get as much done is because I don’t have a solid work habit in my business.  I’ve also found that I’m focusing on a lot of the wrong things as well.  This is why I’m working to create a daily habit where I take consistent, focused action on my business for 1 hour a day.

• Talk to My Mastermind Every Week.  My next habit goal is to talk to my mastermind group on a consistent weekly basis.  The only problem is that I’m not currently in a mastermind group since mine ended earlier last year.  So if you’re interested in starting or looking for someone to join your mastermind group, let me know.  I personally know that accountability is something I need to move forward with my goals, and a mastermind is the best solution.

• Workout 30 Minutes a Day.  Finally, my last habit goal is to get in better shape and stay fit, and this is why I want to implement a 30-minute a day workout.

Now I should mention that I’m not implementing all of these habit goals at one time because I don’t want to overwhelm myself.  

As of this article, I’ve already started reading 10 pages a day, reviewing my finances every week, and working consistently on my business.  I plan to implement the last two habit goals over the next month as I go.

In the end, my goal is not to hit some goal but rather to build a solid routine because the power of setting goals is not in hitting them but rather in the journey they take us on, and without a solid foundation of habits, goals are nothing more than a dream.

So what are your goals for 2016?  Feel free to share them in the comments below.

Cheers!