Life goals list generator

Pick the parts of life that matter to you and how far ahead you want to look. Get a life goals list in one tap, swap anything that is not you, then keep it. No sign-up, nothing stored.

How to use your life goals list

1. Make it yours. Swap or rewrite any goal that is someone else's dream.
2. Choose one to three to start. The rest are a map, not a to-do list.
3. Make each one specific: what, by when, and how you will know it is done. Research has long found that specific, challenging goals lead to better performance than "do your best" (Locke & Latham, 2002).
4. Plan the first step: when and where you will do it this week.
5. Review every three months. Goals change as you do.

150 life goals examples, by area

Every goal the generator can choose from. Read them slowly and notice which ones make your chest tighten a little in a good way.

Health and body

This year

• Walk 8,000 steps a day for three months in a row.
• Run 5 km without stopping.
• Sleep 7 hours or more on most nights for a month.
• Cook at home five nights a week.
• Do 20 full push-ups.

Next 5 years

• Run a half marathon.
• Reach a weight and fitness level my doctor is happy with.
• Learn to swim confidently in open water.
• Build a strength routine I keep three times a week.
• Hike a multi-day trail.

Lifetime

• Stay strong and mobile enough to play on the floor with my grandchildren.
• Climb a famous mountain.
• Complete a marathon.
• Be the healthiest person in my family line so far.
• Keep moving every day until my last.

Relationships

This year

• Call my parents or an older relative every week.
• Make one new real friend.
• Host a dinner for friends once a month.
• Write five thank-you letters to people who shaped me.
• Fix one relationship that has gone quiet.

Next 5 years

• Build a circle of five friends I can call at 3 am.
• Become the kind of partner I would want to have.
• Find a mentor and become a mentor.
• Organise a reunion with old school friends.
• Take a trip with my parents or children.

Lifetime

• Be remembered as someone who made people feel seen.
• Raise children, or help raise children, who are kind.
• Keep a lifelong friendship going for 50 years.
• Write a letter to each person I love telling them why.
• Be the person my family turns to in a crisis.

Work and career

This year

• Learn one skill that makes me more valuable at work.
• Ask for honest feedback from my manager or clients.
• Finish one project I am proud of.
• Update my CV and online profile.
• Have coffee with three people in a job I find interesting.

Next 5 years

• Move into work that uses my strengths most of the day.
• Lead a team or a project.
• Start a side business that earns its first income.
• Earn a qualification in my field.
• Become known for one thing in my industry.

Lifetime

• Build something that outlasts me.
• Do work I would do even if I were not paid.
• Train someone who becomes better than me.
• Run my own business, on my terms.
• Retire on my own terms, with work I am proud of.

Money

This year

• Save one month of expenses as an emergency fund.
• Track every expense for 90 days.
• Pay off one debt completely.
• Set up an automatic saving on payday.
• Cancel every subscription I do not use.

Next 5 years

• Save six months of expenses.
• Become free of consumer debt.
• Start investing regularly for the long term.
• Increase my income by learning a valuable skill.
• Buy something important without borrowing.

Lifetime

• Become financially independent.
• Give generously every year without worrying.
• Leave my family better off than I started.
• Never let money decide whether I help someone.
• Teach my children how to handle money well.

Learning

This year

• Read 12 books.
• Learn 500 words of a new language.
• Finish one online course.
• Learn to cook ten dishes by heart.
• Learn basic first aid.

Next 5 years

• Hold a simple conversation in a new language.
• Learn to play an instrument well enough to enjoy it.
• Read 100 books.
• Learn to code a small app or website.
• Earn a certificate in something that fascinates me.

Lifetime

• Become fluent in a second language.
• Read the great books of my tradition and one other.
• Master one craft.
• Never stop being a beginner at something.
• Write down everything I have learned for the next generation.

Adventure and travel

This year

• Visit a place in my own country I have never seen.
• Sleep one night under the stars.
• Try one thing that scares me a little.
• Take a weekend trip with no phone.
• Watch a sunrise from a high place.

Next 5 years

• Visit five new countries.
• Learn to dive, sail or ski.
• Take a long journey by train.
• Live abroad for a month.
• Walk an ancient pilgrimage route.

Lifetime

• See the Northern Lights.
• Visit every continent.
• Cross a desert.
• See a total solar eclipse.
• Swim in the ocean at night under the stars.

Creativity

This year

• Write every day for 30 days.
• Draw or paint one picture a week.
• Learn to take good photos with my phone.
• Make something with my hands and give it away.
• Start a journal and keep it for a year.

Next 5 years

• Write a short book or a long story.
• Build a piece of furniture.
• Hold a small exhibition or performance.
• Record a song.
• Create a family cookbook.

Lifetime

• Publish a book.
• Make something beautiful that hangs in someone else's home.
• Leave my family a written story of my life.
• Build a house, or design one.
• Create something that helps people long after me.

Giving and kindness

This year

• Do one random act of kindness every week.
• Volunteer once a month.
• Give blood, if I am able.
• Help a neighbour without being asked.
• Give a set share of my income to a cause I trust.

Next 5 years

• Mentor a young person for a year.
• Help start a community project.
• Sponsor a student's education.
• Organise a fundraiser for something I care about.
• Become a regular volunteer somewhere people count on me.

Lifetime

• Help someone change the direction of their life.
• Build or fund something useful for my community.
• Teach kindness to the next generation by example.
• Give more than I take.
• Be the stranger who helped at the right moment, many times.

Faith and inner life

This year

• Spend ten quiet minutes each morning in prayer, meditation or reflection.
• Read one sacred or wise text slowly.
• Forgive one person, even if only in my heart.
• Keep a gratitude list for 90 days.
• Take one day a month to rest fully.

Next 5 years

• Go on a retreat or pilgrimage.
• Make peace with one part of my past.
• Find a community where my faith or values are shared.
• Learn to stay calm under pressure.
• Write down what I believe and why.

Lifetime

• Live by my values even when no one is watching.
• Grow wiser every year.
• Face the end of my life at peace.
• Become a calm presence for others.
• Know what I live for, and live for it.

Home and lifestyle

This year

• Declutter one room completely.
• Create a calm corner for reading or reflection.
• Start a small herb garden.
• Build a morning and evening routine I enjoy.
• Cook a family recipe from an older relative.

Next 5 years

• Make my home a place people love to visit.
• Own or rent a home that fits my life.
• Grow some of my own food.
• Live with less: keep only what I use or love.
• Learn basic home repairs.

Lifetime

• Build a home full of laughter and good food.
• Live somewhere near nature.
• Host family gatherings for decades.
• Plant a tree that will outlive me.
• Create a home my children want to come back to.

Next: read how to set goals you actually keep, how to change your life in 6 months and how to make your life meaningful, or take the find your purpose quiz.

General wellbeing ideas, not medical, psychological or financial advice. If you are struggling, see crisis help. Nothing you do on this page is sent or stored.