C O G N I T I V E

B E H AV I O U R A L T H E R A P Y
P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

THE GOAL SETTING

WO R K B O O K
 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
HOW TO SET GOALS & CREATE A VISION FOR YOUR FUTURE

Goals are what our desires become when we set deadlines to them to make them a reality.
To feel like you’re moving forward and making adequate progress in life, it’s crucial that the
goals you commit to pursuing play a part in driving you toward accomplishing a greater
vision for your life as a whole.

Setting and achieving healthy goals is essential to our wellbeing and happiness. Striving
towards realistic goals demonstrates that you’re the boss of your life and that life isn’t the
boss of you. Whilst you may prioritise the practicalities of achieving goals over everything
else, visualising a goal is more important than having all the answers. The first stage in the
construction of a house is its blueprints that show the end vision of what the house will
eventually look like. Without a blueprint, it will be impossible for those building the house to
know what the end product should look like.

If you don’t have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish in life, you can end up
spending years going around in circles committing to things that you don’t care about and
becoming frustrated with life. People who aren’t actively working towards a goal or a vision in
life will often experience life as being meaningless and directionless. The great news is that
life doesn’t have to be this way! Although many people assume that getting a vision for their
future will be a challenging and time-consuming process, it isn’t.

A meaningful vision for your future can be as simple as making a difference in the life of one
other person or it could be impacting the world on an enormous scale and everything in-
between. The first step of goal setting is to define your vision and take full responsibility for
what you want to achieve. This vision cannot be what you think other people want you to do
or even what you ‘think’ is just a good idea. It’s important to understand that ‘good ideas’ do
not come from the same place as meaningful visions. Ideas come from our head and visions
come from our heart.

The vision and goals that you develop for your future cannot be what other people want or
expect from you because the purpose here is not to please others but to find something that
will motivate you for the rest of your life (or for the next couple of years at least). If you don’t
have a vision for your future, visualise your life five years from now: what would the best case
scenario look like to you? Doing this should give you a starting point for defining one or two
goals at least. If you want to succeed with goal setting, you need to define the most important
goals you have for each area of your life. Without having a set of targets in life that inspire
you, you won’t have much clarity of focus and direction for your future.

Goal setting allows you to take control of your life’s direction and also provides you with a
benchmark that can be used to determine whether you’re making progress towards these
goals or not. Firstly though, to accomplish any goal in life, you need to know how to set a
goal. Goal setting is a process which starts with careful consideration of what you genuinely
want to achieve. The part of the goal-setting process most people don’t like is the hard work
required for the goals to be accomplished. However, it is worth remembering that hard work
only feels very hard when it doesn’t inspire you. In between setting goals and achieving them
is a series of five steps that transcend the specifications of each goal. Understanding these
steps will allow you to set realistic goals that you can confidently accomplish.

Tip: Only Set Goals that Inspire You

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When you set goals for yourself, it’s crucial that they inspire you. Your goals should strive to
positively benefit the world in some way in areas which are important to you. If your goals are
small, uninspiring and irrelevant to anyone’s quality of life, the chances of you investing time
into making them happen are slim. Genuine inspiration is the key principle behind successful
goal setting.

It’s important to set goals that are in alignment with your top priorities in life. If you don’t
have this degree of focus, you stand the risk of feeling overwhelmed by them and not even
knowing where to start. Achieving goals requires commitment, patience and perseverance -
and if you lack any of these elements, your chances of fulfilling your goals are limited. So, to
maximise your chances of achieving goal success, remember to make sure that your goals
are both inspiring and relevant to you. Ask yourself, “If I were to share my goal with other
people, would they see my goals as being significant and meaningful, or selfish and small?”
How you answer this question will determine whether your goals are actually worth pursuing
or whether they aren’t!

Upon completing this workbook, you will be able to:

•• Define what ‘success’ means to you.

•• Understand what the most significant areas of your life are.

•• Establish a vision for each area of your life.

The following pages will allow you to determine what your ‘greatest life vision’ is. This is
important because it will lay the foundations for all of the planning and goal settings you do
throughout the rest of your life. Once you’re finished, you’ll appreciate the effort you invested
into the process as you’ll have a meaningful vision for your future that you’re happy to commit
your life to.

Q) What is Your Greatest Life Vision?
This is one of those BIG questions that, at first glance, appears to fall into the same category
as other major life questions such as:
••What is the purpose of life?

••Why are we here?

••Why do bad things happen to good people?

This workbook isn’t going to help you find answers to these three massive questions, but
it will help you to define the greatest vision that you have for your life which is entirely
achievable. Once you’re able to refine your greatest life vision, this clear and meaningful
vision will become the guiding principle behind all of your future decisions, action, behaviours
and attitudes for the rest of your life.

What is a ‘greatest life vision’?

In the business world, if you were a company, your ‘greatest vision’ would be either the
organisational vision or mission statement (i.e. the reason why you exist and what you will
commit your company’s resources to achieve). Similarly, your greatest life vision outlines
an ideal outcome for your life which you will commit your resources towards achieving.
This statement should inspire, motivate and drive you out of bed every morning and
encourage you to take the appropriate action needed.
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Your life statement gives you a perspective on life so that when times get tough (which
they will), you’ll remain focused on the prize, consistent in your ways, and unaffected by the
negativity of society, your peers or even your family members. This personal vision statement
will become relevant to every area of your life, including your relationships, career, finances,
spare time and even routine responsibilities. This statement becomes a vision for your future
that will define and shape every decision you make until you eventually fulfil it.

To understand what your greatest life vision might look like, consider the statements you’d
find on the gravestones or in the obituaries of those who have passed away. Although we
appreciate that this might seem like an unusual thing to consider, gravestones or obituaries
contain an overview of the way in which people conducted themselves around other people
throughout life (who they were, and how they are remembered by those they’ve left behind).
Your greatest life vision will be a verbalization of the words you’d ideally have inscribed upon
your tombstone. The words on your tombstone will act as an abbreviated reflection of the life
you’ve lived as remembered by others.

EXERCISE 1
Q) How would you answer the following questions?

Think about examples in your social life, career, finances and even in your closest
relationships.

A) How would you define personal success?

B) What are your most prominent characteristics?

C) What are your finest personal qualities?
 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
D) How would you NOT like to be remembered?

E) What value do you contribute to the world and all of the other people who are in it?

It might be true that you want to be remembered in several ways: as a career woman, a
family man, a highly skilled professional or perhaps a shrewd business person. But, as you’re
more than likely already aware, there are many areas in life to consider when it comes to life
planning and placing too much focus on one area in your life can easily leave you sacrificing
another.

A good example of misplaced priorities is when people place more importance on
developing their career than they do on maintaining healthy relationships. Money can often
come at the cost of intimacy or connection. Many people commit their lives to pursue the
empty goals of power, ambition and money making, only to end up neglecting their family
and losing the respect of their spouses and children. Upon reaching the end of life, it’s
common for many people to look back on their lives with regret, mourning the relationships
that they ‘missed out on’. It’s probably fair to assume that not many people enter their final
hours wishing that they’d earned more money or that they’d spent more time in the office
building their own business (or even someone else’s).

An indication that someone has failed terribly at planning their life will be found in the regrets
and sorrows that they have in their final hours. All the things they ‘wish’ they’d done, what they
‘wish’ they hadn’t done and the people that they could’ve helped along the way but chose not
to. Life is all about balance, and it’s only you who knows the right balance for you. Although
it can be hard to articulate our ‘greatest life vision’, try and visualise what your life would be
like if it were perfect in every way. Imagine if all the people you know were to know exactly
how kind, loving, caring and giving you could be. How would you like all these people to
remember you?

 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in
the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. They have
no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify
them. About the only thing, you can’t do is ignore them. Because they make a difference.
They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push
the human race forward. Maybe they have to be crazy. How else can you stare at an empty
canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels? We make tools for these kinds of
people. While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because those who are
crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

- Rob Siltanen (who wrote this to launch Apple’s ‘Think Different campaign).

Here are some rather nasty examples of how most people DO NOT want to be remembered
by others:(Note: Remember, after you die, other people determine how they remember you,
you don’t get a say in this!)

1) The obituary of Marianne T. Johnson Roddick. 2013

“Marianne Theresa Johnson-Reddick born Jan in 1935, died alone on Aug. 30, 2013. She was
survived by her children who she spent her lifetime torturing in every way possible.

While she neglected and abused her small children, she refused to allow anyone else to
care or show compassion towards them. When they became adults, she stalked and tortured
anyone they dared to love. Everyone she met was tortured by her cruelty and exposure to
violence, criminal activity, vulgarity, and hatred of the kind human spirit.

On behalf of her children whom she so abrasively exposed to her evil and violent life, we
celebrate her passing and hope that she now re-lives the gestures of violence and cruelty
that she put on her children. Her surviving children will live the rest of their lives in the peace
of knowing their nightmare finally come to an end.

Most of us have found peace in helping those who have been exposed to child abuse. We
hope this message of her final passing can revive our message that abusing children is vulgar,
and should not be tolerated in a humane society.

Our greatest wish now is to stimulate a national movement that mandates a purposeful and
dedicated war against child abuse in the United States of America.”

“The most pathetic person in the world is someone who has sight but no vision.” ― Helen
Keller

2) The obituary of Dolores Aguilar. 2008

“Dolores Aguilar, born in 1929 in New Mexico, left us on August 7, 2008. She will be met
in the afterlife by her husband, Raymond, her son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Ruby. She was
survived by her daughters Marietta, Mitzi, Stella, Beatrice, Virginia and Ramona and son Billy;
grandchildren, Maria, Mario, Alexandria, Tommy, Ashlee and Michael; great-grandchildren,
Brendan, Joseph, Carissa, Jacob, Delaney, Shawn, and Emily. Sorry to anyone I’ve missed.

 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
Dolores had no hobbies, gave nothing to society and rarely shared a kind word or deed in her
life. I speak for most of her family when I say we will not miss her. Tears will not be shed, and
we will not lament over her passing. As a family, we will remember Dolores in our own ways,
which were mostly sad and troubling times throughout the years. We may have some fond
memories of her and perhaps we will think of those times too. But I honestly believe that ALL
of us will only miss what we never had, a good and kind mother, grandmother and great-
grandmother.

I hope she is finally at peace with herself. As for the rest of us left behind, I hope this is the
beginning of a time of healing and learning to be a family again. There will be no service, no
prayers and no closure for the family she spent a lifetime tearing apart. We cannot come
together, in the end, to see to it that her grandchildren and great-grandchildren can say their
goodbyes. So I say here for all of us, goodbye, Mom.”

Q) How would you feel if from an afterlife you saw yourself remembered as either of these
ladies?

EXERCISE 2
Q) How would you like to be remembered?

In consideration of the last two stories (Marianne Theresa Johnson-Roddick & Dolores
Aguilar), spend 10-15 minutes preparing the best case scenario of what the people you care
about the most will write about you on your tombstone. It’s this inscription that becomes the
greatest vision for your life and also the factor which you weigh up all of your future decision
making against.

This exercise should help you to establish a new standard and perspective for your life. You
will define what’s most important to you and also the way in which you must conduct yourself
in relation to other people for the remainder of your days.

Write below what people will write about you on your tombstone:
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ESTABLISHING WHICH AREAS OF YOUR LIFE ARE YOUR PRIORITY

From your experience of life so far, you may be able to realise that considering life as a whole
requires attention to many areas, all of which you need to balance. Life balance is one of the
greatest goals we can achieve in life but, at the same time, this is a very tough goal to reach.

Has there ever been a time when you became so focused on achieving a goal in one area
of your life that it came at the cost of something else in another part of your life? This is
a common reoccurring problem for many people. Perhaps you’ve had a strong focus on
your career but then you’ve neglected your health? Or maybe you have focussed on a new
relationship and then neglected your friends or your career?

Each time you commit your energy to one thing, you’re often unknowingly choosing to pull
it away from something else. It pays to make our decisions wisely. All of us have a limited
amount of time and energy each day and no matter how passionately we commit to moving
forward in life, none of us can accomplish ALL things, ALL of the time. Yes, we might rack
up possessions, promotions and perform more personal bests, we might even achieve the
prestige goals of fame and immense fortune. Yet if we’re obtaining those things at the cost of
other more important things, our chances of enjoying a fulfilling and balanced life are slim.

Thomas Sowell once said it best: “There are no solutions, only trade-offs.”

It’s important to be aware of what we’re sacrificing in our attempts at getting something else.
The economists would refer to this as opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is what we sacrifice
in order to get something else.

Q) How can we balance the most important areas of our lives and still achieve our primary
goals?

A) It’s important to decide what the important areas in our lives are. It’s critical that we
maintain this perspective as we commit to improving one area in our life without turning our
back on all of the other areas. There are three empowering questions we can ask ourselves
before going full-steam ahead with anything that’ll demand a significant amount of our time
or energy. Regardless of whether this goal is an accomplishment, acquisition or even a new
intimate relationship, ask yourself these three following questions:
••What impact is pursuing this goal likely to have on my time?

••What else could suffer the consequences of my divided attention if I commit to this
pursuit
•• In what ways does this effort compliment (or detract from) my greatest life vision?

Although this may sound a little sadistic, this line of self-inquiry can be hugely clarifying
because, if we don’t commit to pursuing our greatest life vision, we might end up
compromising our standards on a daily basis.

The late personal development expert Stephen Covey once suggested that:

‘Without a clear focus on our guiding values and priorities, each of us runs a real risk of
successfully climbing a very long ladder only to find it leaning against the wrong wall.’

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This is why our core priorities are worth regular, habitual consideration anytime we’re about to
devote time and energy to a new given pursuit.

AREAS OF IMPORTANCE

There are certain areas in life that are important to all of us. These are primarily:

•• Social & family relationships

•• Career & educational aspirations

•• Money & personal finances

•• Physical health, recreation & leisure

•• Life’s routine responsibilities

•• Giving back to society & contribution

•• Mental, emotional & spiritual health

The importance people place on certain areas of their life will always differ. However, if we
can establish and maintain an element of focus in all areas of our life, we will be more likely
to achieve this healthy life balance. When we define those areas of importance, we create
awareness within us of what areas in our lives need to be improved upon while taking a huge
step towards achieving greater life balance.

“My point is, life is about balance. The good and the bad. The highs and the lows. The pina
and the colada.”— Ellen DeGeneres

We might recognise someone with a ‘healthy’ balanced life through their effective
prioritisation between work and lifestyle habits. ‘Work’ incorporates their career, education
and personal ambitions, whereas ‘lifestyle’ includes their health, pleasure, leisure,
relationships and commitment to personal growth. None of us is perfect and none of us will
ever achieve complete fulfilment in all areas of life all of the time. However, it is possible to
establish a healthy balance.

Achieving and maintaining a healthy life balance can be a life-long process. This process
will often take form through the strategies and interventions we use for managing the
challenges that arise in the context of our everyday lives. Consider the major choices you’ve
made throughout your lifetime to date, particularly those which have brought you genuine
satisfaction. In retrospect, consider the opportunity cost of any investments you’ve made
(focus, time, money or energy) that turned out to be unexpectedly high.

Of course, not every choice we make will fully support our greatest life vision every time. But
the more choices that do help us to become more balanced, fulfilled and content. The more
balanced we become, the clearer we’ll be on which opportunities deserve our best efforts
and which opportunities are worth dismissing entirely. It can become very easy to ‘overload’ in
life due to the constant pressures and demands placed upon us. The following exercise will
allow you to gain a balanced overview of your life in its entirety. Upon completion, you’ll be
able to identify clearly any specific areas in your life that are in urgent need of improvement!
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AND THIS IS WHERE OUR GOAL SETTING JOURNEY BEGINS...

KAIN RAMSAY’S STORY

A few years ago, I learned that nothing is ever as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth
diminishing our health or poisoning ourselves into the pit of worry and stress.

There were times in the past where I’d physically (and mentally) exhaust myself due to
working regular twelve hour days. One day, when I was discussing this topic with a colleague
I dismissed the exhaustion with a flat, ‘Pfft, well what can you do?’ to which he replied, ‘There’s
always something you can do.’ Although this statement was very simple, it hit home and
resonated with me. My colleague was right: we always have a choice about how we use our
time.

When we become entrenched in anxiety-based patterns of thinking and behaviour, we
tend not to look outside of our boxes. Unless something shakes us up, we can often fail
to recognise even the most practical options that are available to us. We all have different
interpretations of work-life balance but, in principle, we all share a similar idea of what this
means: to have a satisfying amount of time available for doing the things we’re passionate
about outside of a work based environment. This could mean time spent with family, time
dedicated to personal improvement or even getting our bodies into a better physical shape.

We’ll approach your life (and the topic of life balance) in a structured and balanced way
throughout this exercise. The following pages will encourage you to break your life down
into seven different areas so that you can clearly identify the specific areas in your life that
are currently out of balance. These areas of your life are most likely causing you the greatest
degree of anxiety and preventing you from making the degree of progress you want in life.

Many of us can ‘overload’ in life as a result of the demands associated with our work and our
home lives. This overload comes as we attempt to manage and maintain our relationships,
physical health, finances, routine responsibilities and even provide service to our local
communities.

The questionnaire over the following pages has been designed to give you a balanced
overview of all your most important areas in life. Upon completion, you’ll be able to identify
the specific areas of your life that you really want to make changes in.

 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
“Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigour. Innovate around the core. Don’t
embrace the status quo. Find new ways to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your
hands dirty. Listen with empathy and over-communicate with transparency. Tell your story,
refusing to let others define you. Use authentic experiences to inspire. Stick to your values,
they are your foundation. Make the tough choices; it’s how you execute that counts. Be
decisive in times of crisis. Be Nimble. Find the truth in trials and lessons in mistakes. Be
responsible for what you see, hear, and do. Believe.”
— Howard Schultz

Work through the questions & grade your answers from 1 – 10 circling the number that feels
right to you, be instinctive and don’t agonise over it.
MAIN LIFE AREA 1: SOCIAL AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

My family relationships are very important to me Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with my family relationships? Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am close to my parents, and our relationships are healthy. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am close to my children, and our relationships are healthy. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

The people who matter the most in my life accept me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Social relationships are important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with my social relationships Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I have close friendships with people I can be myself around. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I have a good (real world) social network/ am part of Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

social groups.

I am good at connecting with new people. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I get along with my neighbours and the people in my area. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with my romantic relationship/s? Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am happy with the overall quality of my relationships? Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ /
10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10

Notes: Write a personal vision statement about an area/s in your relationships that you’d like
to make changes in:
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“Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward.” -
Maxwell Maltz

MAIN LIFE AREA 2: CAREER & EDUCATION ASPIRATIONS

Achievements are important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with my career achievements to date Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I find my current work environment fulfilling Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I look forward to going to work each day Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

My career stimulates and develops me as a person Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I have a healthy & rewarding work/ life balance. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

My career is offering me advancement and reward Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Strong working relationships are important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am happy with my current working relationships Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

My working environment positive and supportive Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I find contentment and fulfilment in my current career Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I would urgently like a career change. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

If I died today, I would be happy with the legacy
I’ll leave behind. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ /
10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10

Notes: Write a personal vision statement about an area/s in your career or education that
you’d like to make changes in:
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“There is no decision that we can make that doesn’t come with some sort of balance or
sacrifice.” - Simon Sinek

MAIN LIFE AREA 3: MONEY & PERSONAL FINANCES

Being financially capable is very important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am content with my current financial effectiveness Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I have enough money to meet my current wants. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I have enough money to meet my current needs. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I know my exact monthly outgoings. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I always know what’s in my bank account/s. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Being generous to others is important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am currently very generous towards others. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with how much I give to others Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Charitable contribution is very important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with how charitable I currently am. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am willing to step out of my comfort zone & take Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

new risks to generate more income

I worry a lot about my current financial situation Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ /
10 ____ / 10____ / 10

Notes: Write a personal vision statement about an area/s in your personal finances that you’d
like to make changes in:
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“To establish balance in our personal finances, it’s crucial that we learn to live within our
means.” - Kain Ramsay

MAIN LIFE AREA 4: HEALTH, RECREATION & LEISURE

Establishing a healthy work/ life balance is very

important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am content with my current work/life balance. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Physical health is critical to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am very happy with my current physical health Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am very happy with my current physical fitness levels. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Having plenty of ‘free’ time is very important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am very content with the amount of free time I have. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

My physical appearance is very important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am content with my current physical appearance. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I can handle my stress and anxiety levels effectively. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I very much enjoy life outside of work/study. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am able to do things I enjoy frequently. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I have room for improvements in my life outside of

work and/or study. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ /
10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10

Notes: Write a personal vision statement about an area/s in your personal/social life that
you’d like to make changes in:
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“In our leisure we reveal what kind of people we are.” - Ovid

MAIN LIFE AREA 5:LIFE’S ROUTINE RESPONSIBILITIES

Managing routine tasks around the home is important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with how I currently handle routine tasks. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am disciplined in paying my routine household bills. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I could be more disciplined in managing my bills & other

important responsibilities. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Prioritizing my responsibilities is important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with how I prioritise my responsibilities Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

A well-managed home environment is essential to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with my current home environment. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Dealing with home issues promptly is important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Home life would be easier if I had a better system in

place for managing my routine responsibilities. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I worry a lot about my routine responsibilities. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

My life would be so much easier if I were more disciplined Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

in managing my routine responsibilities around the home.

____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ /
10 ____ / 10___ / 10

Notes: Write a vision statement about how you could become more efficient in managing your
routine responsibilities:
 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines that are practiced every day.” - Jim
Rohn

MAIN LIFE AREA 6: CONTRIBUTION & GIVING BACK TO SOCIETY

Contributing to society & making a difference is

important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with how much I currently give back to society. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I regularly make a positive impact in the lives of other people. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am satisfied with the amount of difference I make in Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

the lives of others.

Leaving behind a meaningful legacy is important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am happy with the current legacy that I would leave behind. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I encourage and support those closest to me often. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

My time is mainly spent focussing on myself and my

immediate needs. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I get involved with and support a social initiative that

I genuinely believe in. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Those closest to me find great value in me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

My peers or co-workers find great value in me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Someday my children will be proud of the way in which

I’ve lived my life. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I could make more effort in contributing back to society. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ /
10 ____ / 10___ / 10

Notes: Write a personal vision statement about how you could begin making a greater impact
in your culture or society:
 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” -
Albert Einstein

MAIN LIFE AREA 7: MENTAL, EMOTIONAL & SPIRITUAL HEALTH

Being mentally healthy and strong is very important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I currently feel I am very mentally healthy and strong. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

Being emotionally healthy and strong is very important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I currently feel I am very emotionally healthy and strong. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am confident and secure in who I am as a person. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

The way in which I am currently living my life is very fulfilling. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am very content with the way in which I am currently Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

living my life.

Being spiritually healthy and strong is very important to me. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I currently feel I am very spiritually healthy and strong. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I regularly invest time into developing myself spiritually. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I am consistently competent at managing my emotions. Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

I have good self-control.

My emotions will often manage me. I am undisciplined in Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree

self-control.

Negative and destructive emotions will often get the Disagree 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Agree
‘better’ of me.

____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ / 10 ____ /
10 ____ / 10___ / 10

Notes: Write a personal vision statement about how you can begin developing yourself
mentally, emotionally and spiritually:
 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK
“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown
at him.” - David Brinkley

GENERAL LIFE-EVALUATION QUESTIONS

Q1) Summarise what your ideal life would be like.

Q2) What are the main challenges (or difficulties) that you’re facing in bringing your life back
into balance?

Q3) What areas of your life are working really well for you at the moment? (e.g. Family, work,
fitness etc.)

Q4) What immediate changes do you need to make your life to feel more balanced?

Q5) What words might other people use to describe you (in relation to how balanced you are)?

“Success is a lousy teacher in life. It seduces smart people into believing that they
can’t lose.” - Bill Gates
 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK

FINAL EXERCISE:
To finish this workbook, write a personal vision statement for each of the seven areas of your
life.

A personal vision statement is just ‘the best-case scenario’ description of what you would like
to achieve or accomplish in each of the main areas of your life. Whatever you write down as
your vision statements can become goals that you can commit to working towards over the
next 6 - 12 months.

VISION STATEMENT 1: Social & Family Relationships

VISION STATEMENT 2: Career & Educational Aspirations

VISION STATEMENT 3: Money & Personal Finances

VISION STATEMENT 4: Health, Recreation & Leisure

VISION STATEMENT 5: Life’s Routine Responsibilities

VISION STATEMENT 6: Contribution & Giving Back

 THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK

VISION STATEMENT 7: Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Life

End of Workbook Summary:

Look up the outcomes we set at the start of this workbook. Are you nearer to them now? Or
have they altered?
•• Define what success means to you

•• Understand what the most important areas of your life are

•• State the greatest vision you have for your life

It’s important to remember that life balance is an ongoing process and not just a means to an
end. Life balance is much more than merely stating that you ‘want something to happen’ but
is more about indicating the specifics of what you are GOING TO MAKE HAPPEN!

Unless you define the specific goals you have for each of the main areas of your life, the
chances of you achieving these goals will always be somewhat limited. Hopefully, by now you
have set some goals for yourself that are significant, meaningful and will improve the quality
of your life and others once you have put in the hard work to achieve them.

So, the question we leave you with is: which of your seven main areas of your life are you
going to bring back into balance first?
THE GOAL SETTING WORKBOOK