Personal Goals Examples: 100 Ideas for Every Area of Life
100 personal goals examples for every area of life, each specific and with a first step, plus how to choose yours and a free printable list.
Personal goals are the things you want for yourself, alongside or outside your job: your health, the people in your life, money, skills, your home and fun. Below are 100 personal goals examples, ten for each area of life, each written the way goals work best: specific, with a number or a date, and with a first step you could take this week.
Five good ones to start with: run 5 km without stopping by March 31; save three months of expenses by December; host a dinner for friends every month; read 24 books this year; take one full day off every week. Scroll to the area you care about most, mark what pulls at you, then pick one to three. There’s a free printable list of all 100 at the end.
What makes a good personal goal
Four things, each with research behind it:
- It’s yours. Kennon Sheldon and Andrew Elliot found that people put more lasting effort into goals that fit their own interests and values, reached them more often, and got more well-being out of reaching them. A quick test: would you want this even if nobody ever knew?
- It’s specific and a stretch. Across decades of studies, Edwin Locke and Gary Latham found that specific, difficult goals led to better performance than being told to do your best. “Get fit” can’t be done or failed; “run 5 km without stopping by March 31” can.
- It’s something to start, not something to stop. In a 2020 Swedish study of 1,066 people’s New Year’s resolutions, goals about adopting something new succeeded 58.9% of the time, against 47.1% for goals about quitting or avoiding something. “Cook dinner at home five nights a week” beats “stop ordering takeout”.
- It has a first step you can do this week. That’s why every goal below comes with one.
The full method, from choosing to tracking, is in how to set goals.
Personal goals examples for health and fitness
Health goals work best as something you do on a schedule, with a test at the end you can pass or fail: a distance, a number of push-ups, a bedtime.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Run 5 km without stopping by March 31 | Run-walk for 20 minutes on Saturday |
| Walk 8,000 steps a day, five days a week, until spring | Walk to the farther coffee shop tomorrow |
| Strength train twice a week for 12 weeks | Put two 45-minute sessions in your calendar |
| Do 10 push-ups in a row by June 30 | Do as many as you can today and write the number down |
| Cook dinner at home five nights a week in January | Plan Monday’s dinner tonight |
| Eat vegetables with two meals a day for a month | Buy three vegetables you actually like |
| Be in bed by 11 p.m. on weeknights for 30 days | Set a 10:30 p.m. alarm to start winding down |
| Swim 1 km without stopping by the end of August | Look up the pool’s lane swim times |
| Get a full checkup by February 28 | Call your doctor’s office on Monday |
| Touch your toes by May, stretching 10 minutes four days a week | Stretch for 10 minutes after tomorrow’s shower |
Personal goals examples for mind and well-being
These are the quiet goals: rest, attention, a calmer head. Most of them are habits kept long enough, so give each one a length, like 30 days or until March.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Take a 20-minute walk without your phone five days a week | Leave the phone at home for tomorrow’s walk |
| Meditate 10 minutes a day for 30 days | Sit quietly for five minutes after coffee tomorrow |
| Write one line in a journal every evening for 90 days | Put a notebook on your pillow tonight |
| Keep screens off after 9 p.m. on weeknights for a month | Charge your phone in the kitchen tonight |
| Take one full day off every week until March | Pick this week’s day and tell someone |
| Spend two hours outdoors every weekend | Plan Saturday’s walk now |
| Read for fun for 20 minutes before bed, five nights a week | Put a novel on your nightstand |
| Check the news twice a day, not all day, for a month | Move news apps off your home screen |
| Say no to one request a week that doesn’t fit your priorities | Write your three priorities on a sticky note |
| Go to six therapy sessions by spring | Shortlist three therapists this week |
Personal goals examples for family and relationships
Relationship goals are easy to state and easy to drift on. Tie each one to a day of the week, so it happens because Sunday came, not because you remembered.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Plan one date night a month for a year | Book this month’s |
| Call your parents every Sunday for three months | Set a Sunday reminder for 6 p.m. |
| Eat dinner together as a family four nights a week | Pick the four nights tonight |
| Spend 30 minutes one-on-one with each child every week | Ask each child what they’d like to do |
| Plan a weekend away with your partner by June | Pick two possible dates and ask |
| Have the conversation you’ve been putting off by the end of the month | Write down the first sentence you’ll say |
| Visit family who live far away twice this year | Check trains or flights for one weekend |
| Send a card for every family birthday this year | Put every birthday in your calendar |
| Write down five family recipes by the holidays | Ask for the first recipe this weekend |
| Go for a walk with your partner every Sunday morning for two months | Ask about this Sunday |
Personal goals examples for friends and community
Friendships mostly need repetition: seeing the same people again and again. Most goals here are about putting a regular date on the calendar.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Host a dinner for friends every month | Text two friends a date for the first one |
| Reconnect with three old friends by March | Message the first one today |
| Join a weekly club or class and go 10 times | Find one that meets near you |
| Say yes to two invitations a month you’d usually turn down | Accept the next one that comes |
| Volunteer four hours a month for six months | Email one local organization this week |
| Make one new friend in your city this year | Invite someone you like for coffee |
| Organize one get-together for your street or building by summer | Ask two neighbors if they’d come |
| Reply to personal messages within two days for a month | Answer the oldest one today |
| Give 1% of your income to one cause you choose this year | Pick the cause |
| Mentor someone new to your field for six months | Tell your manager or network you’re open to it |
Personal goals examples for career and work
These are personal goals about work, the ones you set for yourself rather than the targets your job sets for you. They suit a performance review too.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Earn a certification in your field by September | Pick the certification and an exam date |
| Lead one project from start to launch by June | Tell your manager which project you want |
| Ask for feedback after every project this year | Write two questions to send after the next one |
| Leave work on time four days a week for a month | Set an alarm 15 minutes before the end of the day |
| Ask for a raise with a written case by your next review | Start a list of your results, with numbers |
| Give one talk at a meetup or an internal session this year | Pick a topic you could talk about for 20 minutes |
| Check email in two blocks a day for two weeks | Turn off email notifications today |
| Have coffee with someone outside your team every month | Invite one person for next week |
| Update your résumé and portfolio by the end of the quarter | Add your last three projects today |
| Learn a tool your team relies on well enough to teach it by March | Book one hour a week to practice |
Personal goals examples for money
Money goals need a number and a date, and most of them get easier once the saving or the paying happens automatically.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Save three months of expenses in a separate account by December | Open the account this week |
| Pay off one credit card balance by June 30 | List every balance and its interest rate |
| Set up an automatic transfer to savings on payday this month | Pick the amount and the day |
| Track every expense for 30 days | Start a note or a spreadsheet today |
| Cancel every subscription you haven’t used in a month, this week | Read through last month’s bank statement |
| Invest a fixed amount every month for a year | Decide on an amount you won’t miss |
| Cut takeout to once a week for three months | Plan this week’s meals |
| Save $1,500 for a summer trip by June | Divide it by the paydays left |
| Write a one-page budget and review it every month | Write this month’s on one page |
| Do your own taxes this year | Put last year’s documents in one folder |
Personal goals examples for learning and skills
A learning goal you can test is better than one you can only feel: a 20-minute conversation, a typing speed, a passed exam.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Hold a 20-minute conversation in Spanish by June 30 | Book a trial lesson |
| Read 24 books this year | Pick the first two |
| Finish one online course by March | Block an hour twice a week |
| Cook 10 dishes without a recipe by the end of the year | Choose the first dish |
| Type 60 words a minute by April | Take a typing test for your starting number |
| Take a first aid course by summer | Find the next course date |
| Play five songs on the guitar by summer | Learn three chords this week |
| Build one small app or website by June | Pick something you’d use yourself |
| Do five home repairs yourself this year | List what’s broken |
| Pass your driving test by September | Book the first lesson |
Personal goals examples for creativity and hobbies
Creative goals go better when they’re about showing up, not about genius: words written, photos taken, one finished draft.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Write 300 words five mornings a week for three months | Write the first 300 tomorrow, before email |
| Finish a draft of a short story by March | Write the last line first |
| Take one photo a day for a year | Make an album for them today |
| Fill a sketchbook by summer | Buy a small one you’ll carry |
| Knit one scarf by winter | Buy the yarn and needles |
| Grow herbs on the windowsill and cook with them by June | Buy a pot of basil |
| Record six podcast episodes with a friend | Agree on a name and the first topic |
| Build one piece of furniture | Pick a simple plan |
| Show your work once: an open mic, a market or an exhibition | Find one date near you |
| Make a photo book of the year by January | Move this year’s best photos into one album |
Personal goals examples for home and surroundings
Home goals are the ones you notice every day once they’re done. Pick one room or one problem at a time.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Turn the spare room into a reading corner by March | Clear the room this weekend |
| Declutter one room a month for six months | Start with the smallest room |
| Make your bed every morning for 30 days | Tomorrow, before coffee |
| File every paper in one system by February | Get one box and a folder per category |
| Grow tomatoes on the balcony this summer | Order seeds in February |
| Cut the energy bill by 10% by winter | Look at last winter’s bills |
| Fix the five small things that annoy you by April | List them on one page |
| Give away or sell 100 things you don’t use by summer | Fill one bag this week |
| Move to a place with a garden by the end of next year | Write down what the new place must have |
| Repaint one room by spring | Pick the color |
Personal goals examples for fun, travel and adventure
Fun doesn’t need justifying, but it does need dates. Without a booking, “travel more” stays a wish for another year.
| Goal | First step this week |
|---|---|
| Visit two places you’ve never been this year | Pick the first one and book the dates |
| Walk the last 100 km of the Camino de Santiago in September | Ask for the time off now |
| Try one new thing every month | Pick next month’s |
| See the northern lights by the end of next winter | Check when the season starts |
| Plan two weekends away this year | Put the first one in the calendar |
| Go camping three times this summer | Borrow or buy a tent |
| Learn to surf on a week-long trip | Look up surf schools for spring |
| See 12 live shows this year | Buy tickets for the next one |
| Take a real vacation: a full week without work email | Set the dates and the out-of-office |
| Do one thing a season that scares you a little, like a sea swim or an open mic | Write down the first one |
Personal goals for work
If your manager asks for personal goals in a review, they usually mean goals about your own growth, not the team’s numbers. Pick one skill goal and one visibility goal from the career list above, for example a certification and a talk, and add a date your manager can check. “Ask for feedback after every project this year” is a good third: it’s small, it’s visible, and it makes the other two better. For the rest of the form, the team and performance goals, see our 100 work goals examples for performance reviews.
Personal goals for students
- Get a B or better in your hardest class this semester
- Hand in every assignment a day early for a month
- Read one book a month that isn’t assigned
- Join one club and go every week
- Sleep eight hours on school nights for a month
- Ask a teacher for help once a week in your weakest subject
- Apply to three summer jobs or internships by March
- Learn to cook five meals before you move out
- Save $500 from a part-time job by summer
- Spend one weekend day a month fully offline
How to answer “What are your personal goals?” in an interview
Interviewers ask to see whether you grow on purpose. Pick one or two goals that are true, say what you’re already doing about them, and keep at least one close to your work. For example: “I’m working on public speaking. I’ve given two talks at internal sessions this year and I’d like to do one at a meetup next spring.” Avoid goals that suggest you’re planning to leave soon, and avoid “be more organized” unless you can say exactly how.
Short-term and long-term personal goals
| Area | Short-term (weeks to 3 months) | Long-term (1 to 5 years) |
|---|---|---|
| Health | Be in bed by 11 p.m. on weeknights for 30 days | Run a half marathon |
| Money | Track every expense for 30 days | Save a down payment for a home |
| Learning | Finish one online course by March | Hold a conversation in Spanish without help |
| People | Reconnect with three old friends by March | Host a dinner for friends every month for a year |
| Home | Declutter one room a month for six months | Move to a place with a garden |
Short-term goals are often the first stretch of a long-term one, and the 12 Week Year is a good way to plan that stretch. For goals measured in decades, see our life goals examples.
How to choose: one to three, without conflicts
A list of 100 is for picking, not doing. Two studies explain why fewer is better.
More goals, weaker plans. Making a specific plan for a goal is one of the best-tested ways to reach it, but in a 2012 set of studies, Amy Dalton and Stephen Spiller found the benefit usually didn’t carry over to several goals at once. Planning many goals made people more aware of how hard it would be to do them all, which weakened their commitment. So plan a few goals well rather than all of them a little.
Goals that pull against each other. In 1988, Robert Emmons and Laura King asked students to list their personal strivings and rate how much they conflicted. More conflict went with more negative feelings and more physical complaints, and people acted less on conflicting goals while thinking about them more. Before you commit, check your picks against each other: “save three months of expenses” and “see 12 live shows this year” can both happen, but only if you’ve decided what the budget is.
A simple way to choose:
- Mark every goal that pulls at you, in any area.
- Cross out the ones you’d only do because someone expects it.
- Pick one to three, ideally from different areas.
- Check the pairs for conflicts in time or money, and decide which one wins when they clash.
- Rewrite each one with your own number, deadline and first step, and put the first step on a day this week.
Free printable: 100 personal goal ideas
Our printable list has all 100 goals in short form, ten per area, with a small circle to mark the ones that pull at you. The front has the first five areas and how to use the list; the back has the other five and space for the one to three you pick. To plan the goals you choose, our goal setting worksheet takes each one from a sentence to weekly steps.
Personal goals in Plannedo
In Plannedo, every goal gets a board: photos, a few words, and a note about why it matters. A board makes a goal in any area feel concrete, whether it’s a dinner table, a reading chair by the window or a jar of savings.
The board is only the start. Tasks and habits can be linked to a goal, so the first steps show up on the day with the goal’s name under them. In the evening, Log the day shows a card for each goal, and a tap records whether today moved it: Moved, Thought or Not today. Five goals from five areas of life stay in view without a separate tracker for each.
More in the help centre: goal boards, linking tasks and habits to goals and the evening check-in. If you think in pictures, 2027 vision board ideas has more boards to start from.
FAQ
What are some examples of personal goals?
Run 5 km without stopping by March 31, save three months of expenses by December, host a dinner for friends every month, read 24 books this year, call your parents every Sunday, learn to hold a 20-minute conversation in another language, and take one full day off every week. Good personal goals have a number or a clear finish, a deadline and a first step.
What are 5 good personal goals?
One from each of five areas works well: a health goal (run 5 km without stopping), a money goal (save three months of expenses), a relationship goal (one date night a month), a learning goal (finish one online course by March) and a rest goal (one full day off every week). Pick fewer if five feels like too much; one to three is easier to keep.
What are the main areas of personal goals?
The ten used in this list: health and fitness, mind and well-being, family and relationships, friends and community, career and work, money, learning and skills, creativity and hobbies, home and surroundings, and fun, travel and adventure. You don’t need a goal in every area at once.
What are good personal goals for work?
Goals about your own growth at work: earn a certification, lead one project from start to launch, ask for feedback after every project, give one talk this year, or have coffee with someone outside your team every month. Add a date your manager can check.
How many personal goals should I have?
One to three at a time. Research on planning found that the benefit of making specific plans usually didn’t extend to several goals at once, because planning many goals makes their difficulty more obvious and weakens commitment. Keep the others on a list for later.
What’s the difference between personal and professional goals?
Professional goals are about your job and career; personal goals cover everything you want for yourself, including health, relationships, money and fun. Career goals you set for your own growth sit in both.
How do I write a personal goal?
Write it as a result you could check on the day: “By [date], I will [result].” Then add the first step you’ll take this week. For example: “By March 31, I will run 5 km without stopping. First step: run-walk for 20 minutes on Saturday.”
What are some short-term personal goals?
Goals you can finish in weeks or a few months: be in bed by 11 p.m. on weeknights for 30 days, track every expense for 30 days, cancel unused subscriptions this week, reconnect with three old friends by March, or finish one online course by March.
Sources
- Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76(3), 482-497.
- Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717.
- Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G., & Rozental, A. (2020). A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. PLOS ONE, 15(12), e0234097.
- Dalton, A. N., & Spiller, S. A. (2012). Too much of a good thing: The benefits of implementation intentions depend on the number of goals. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(3), 600-614.
- Emmons, R. A., & King, L. A. (1988). Conflict among personal strivings: Immediate and long-term implications for psychological and physical well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1040-1048.
Photo credits
The cover photo is by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash. Photos on the goal boards are by Considerate Agency, Zac Cain, Towfiqu barbhuiya, Clay Banks and Ioann-Mark Kuznietsov, also on Unsplash.
