How to Achieve Your Biggest Life Goals

One of my previous managers used to say “together is better” to encourage us to work together as a team.

I was reminded of this catchphrase this week during my yearly planning session with my husband.

While I love the feeling of accomplishment I get from doing something on my own, there is a special kind of magic that happens when you open up and share your goals and dreams with your partner.

It’s like you get a new superpower that makes even the most audacious goals feel within reach.

So every year, my husband and I plan our life together.

We take a day to talk about our individual aspirations and our shared ones. We put together a plan and we make it happen.

This practice has changed our lives.

• It allowed us to make big decisions like moving halfway across the world with ease and clarity

• It allowed us to create habits around healthy eating and working out that give us energy and keep us energized

• It provided opportunities for both of us to build our own successful businesses and hit financial milestones

I usually talk about career goals and how YOU need to design your own journey, but you don’t have to do it alone. You can have a partner to support you - and you can support them. Building a career and a life that you love becomes easier when you share both the dreams and the work.

How to plan and create a life you love

I don’t have a fancy process, but this is what my husband and I do every year.

Early in December, we both start thinking about our individual goals. We use 4 buckets to describe them:

• Professional: work, career, education

• Physical: fitness, health, diet, appearance

• Personal: relationships, hobbies, family, friends

• Mental & Spiritual: our mindset and mental health, joy, and happiness.
  

We just use a word document and jot down some ideas and thoughts.

We also think about our shared goals and ask ourselves: Where do we want to be in 5 years? What do we want our lives to look like?

- Where do we live?

- What is our lifestyle?

- How do we feel?

- How do we spend our time?

Then, late in December, after we do our individual planning, we take a day off and disconnect from our daily lives and just work on our shared plans.

Last year we did while on vacation in Denver, enjoying the snow in a secluded cabin.

This year we started our day with a cup of coffee at our favorite coffee place, had a yummy burger for lunch, and went back home and crushed on our sofa with our laptops to write everything down.

Set shared goals and make them a reality

When we go through this process we first talk about our individual goals. We listen to each other's dreams and then brainstorm ideas to help make them a reality. This is where so many breakthroughs happen!!

For example, when I share goals that are so ambitious I'm afraid to say them out loud but my husband just smiles and says they are totally doable. That's when I stop thinking from a place of fear and shame and start thinking from a place of power. And with that mindset, anything is possible!

When we are done with our personal goals, we talk about our lives and what we want to achieve together.

Over the years we've discussed things like switching to a healthier diet together, spending more time with friends and family, taking more vacations, moving from the city to the suburbs, buying a house vs. renting, and how to make sure we keep our relationship healthy when we both work from home.

Every time my husband and I set a shared goal for our lives, it ends up becoming a reality.

Not because we are extremely lucky, but because we are both aware of it, we keep each other accountable and we are both doing work to get us closer to our dreams.

It’s that simple.

Together really is better.

I hope you’ll give it a try. It could change your life.