Your life in six parts: how to categorize life and pick goals.

The direction of your life has a million variations. It's like going to a really good ice cream shop that sells an exotic variety: Toasted Marshmallow Madness. Cinnamon Bun Delight. Maple Bacon Bliss. Yum.

With so many choices, it's easy to freeze up. 

Analysis paralysis.

You'll never know how to get there if you don't know where you're going. I talk more about the importance of the 3Ds here. 

Let's simplify this. There are only a few things you need to focus on. 

Just six. 

• Career
• Relationships
• Faith
• Health
• Responsibilities
• Fun

Your entire life can be grouped into one of those six categories. Imagine going into an ice cream shop and only having six basic options. Easy. 

And you don't have to do them all. 

Just focus on one. 

Career: Want a promotion? Want to shift to remote work so you can travel more? Want to lead a team of people? Want to build your platform? Want to become a professional tightrope walker? Focus on your career goals.

Relationships: Want to get married one day? Be a mom? Want to rekindle your relationship with your dad or extend forgiveness to a friend? Want to be an encourager? Focus on your relationship goals.

Faith: Want to discover the meaning of life? Want to trace the origin of your religion? Want to go to church more frequently or read your Bible daily? Want to form more friendships with believers? Want to be kinder. More generous? Focus on faith goals.

Health: Want to run a marathon one day? A 5k? Want to have more confidence in the public pool? Want to feel less social anxiety? Want to quit smoking? Want to fill your fitness rings on your app or get in 10,000 daily steps? Work on your health goals.

Responsibilities: Want to get out of debt? Want to declutter the garage or chip away at the mountain of laundry? Want to be able to afford your own Netflix account or a new set of silverware because all the small spoons keep disappearing? Want to walk the dog more? Focus on your responsibility goals.

Fun: This is the category of everything else. Sky-diving. Rocky Mountain climbing. Go 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu-Manchu and everything else Tim McGraw did when he lived like he was dying. 

What are you going to do, though? 

There is a misconception that crossing the finish line is the most essential step. Finishing is crucial and often never met in goals, but it is not the most important. 

Starting is the most important thing you can do in your goals. 

Once you start, you're in the game. 

There are a million roads to choose from, but the faster you start moving, the clearer the path will become. 

Example of Goals

Let's look at Jeff's (a random guy I just created but is really chill and makes good ziti) completed goals list as an example. Notice that some goals, like for exercise, are more specific than others. 

1. Call my parents once a week.
2. Write 200 words a day for 30 days straight.
3. Exercise four times per week for at least 30 minutes.
4. Read my Bible daily.
5. Plan a backpacking trip with the guys.

Feel free to include goals on your list that require clarification, like eat better. It's better to have a placeholder and begin moving in a direction than leave off a goal that is important to you.

I'd love to be inspired by your goals in the comments!