The Association Blog

Eight glasses of water, 10,000 steps… While we’re all quite familiar with setting a number-based goal, what if we restructured goals in a different way?

What’s a recent goal you set for yourself, either personally or professionally? If you’re like many people, the goal has a number associated with it. We’re taught that goals need to be measurable, quantifiable. How’d you like to try setting a goal using a different method?

In the recent Roundtable, Setting Boundaries & Combating Burnout, Forsyth Humane Society’s Kristen Williams offered a suggestion. “We often make goals that are number- and data-related, but what if we restructured goals around how we wanted to feel?”

For example, you might begin by reflecting and recording as many feelings as you can think of that you wish to experience in various areas of your life (for example: work, friends, body, nutrition). Maybe you’d like to feel more confident when speaking in public, or more easeful in your body.

“Setting feeling goals has been a real game changer for me,” shares Williams.  “At the end of the day, I can go home and say, ‘You know what? I felt accomplished today,’ or, ‘I felt like I made a difference today.’ And while I might not be able to say exactly who, what, when, where or how I reached that feeling goal, I can say if I felt it or not.”

Goal setting this way may also serve as a tool for deep self-exploration. ‘It’s allowed me to understand myself,” adds Williams, “and what is most important to me.”

Have you ever set a feeling-based goal for yourself, or reflected on how you’d like to feel differently in certain situations? We invite you to share in the comments.