Reflect & Project Goal Setting: 16 Questions to Ask Yourself to Set Goals You Will Achieve

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes"

-Andrew Carnegie

Springing into action

Q2 is here, and I must admit, I'm super excited!

I love the start of a new quarter: the chance to reflect on the past and project into the future, to tie a ribbon on successes and set new and exciting goals.

And this might in fact be my favourite time of the year for goal setting, personal development, and business growth.

I find the winter particularly tough on my health, and oftentimes the heat and busyness of summer bring its own challenges too when not managed carefully.

Springtime is, for me, the perfect time to invest in myself and the things that are most important to me.

As the days grow longer, and nature begins to awaken, I too feel that I begin to break out of the shell of winter and find greater energy, passion, strength, and determination to plant the seeds of my life and watch them bloom.

I use the Reflect and Project Practice to help me stay present and fully experience the current moment, knowing I'm on the right track.

It's natural for our minds to slip into moments of the past or to ruminate in the future, so I like to give myself space on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis to intentionally focus on the past and the future in empowering ways.

It's also really easy to feel like you're working hard and getting nowhere, particularly when we don't have clarity around what we want to achieve.

And of course, we all have moments of procrastination and distraction, even when we do know what we want!

I like to keep a little notebook with me to keep track of any important thoughts about the past or future that pop up when I'm trying to focus.

If the thought I have noted down is important, I come back to it at a suitable time; and if the thought is something such as a fear or limiting belief, it can be really helpful to be aware of it and any patterns coming up.

Awareness is the first step to change, whether that's being aware of your goals to change your habits, or being aware of unhelpful thoughts to develop a more empowering mindset.

With that being said, let's dive into this quarter's reflection and projection questions!

Reflecting on the Good Old Times...

Most people's minds live in the past, going over the parts of their lives that didn't go so well.

When we consider our thoughts as the seeds of our lives, we don't want to plant doubt, negative beliefs, and expectations of failure or 'bad luck' in our present.

We therefore need an empowering way of looking at the past, so that we can pull the power out of our experiences.

These are the seeds we want to nourish and nurture in the present; this is where we begin to cultivate an empowering present and an abundant future!

Here are my Quarterly Reflection Questions:

1. How have you felt during the last quarter & what were the biggest factors contributing to this?

Overall, how has the last quarter felt for you?

Whether it was a time of the greatest joys or the heaviest challenges, you've got through it all and learned big lessons either on the way.

By checking in with your life today you can be intentional about moulding the next three months into something wonderful.

2. What were your 3 biggest successes over the last 3 months?

Celebrate the biggest and smallest of wins!

Feel free to write as many successes as you can think of- spending time reliving our best moments is a powerful way of collecting those seeds of power to take into the future.

3. What were your 3 biggest challenges over the last 3 months?

This is a time to acknowledge the things that didn't go so well, so we don't get stuck in the same cycle this quarter.

When we are honest with ourselves, we give ourselves the freedom to make change happen.

4. What are 3 lessons you can take from your biggest successes?

Are there any practices, routines, rituals, mindsets, or beliefs that underpin your successes that you can take into the next quarter?

5. What are 3 lessons you can take from your biggest challenges?

The blessing of challenges is that they are our biggest teachers.

If we never had problems we would never learn or grow.

What can you take from your challenges?

How can you find a positive outcome from a hard situation?

What can you do to live a more empowered, fulfilling, giving, and loving life, now that you've been through these challenges?

6. What are 3 things you can be grateful for?

When you foster an attitude of gratitude, your focus shifts from what you don't have to all the things you do have.

Who are the people, the experiences, and the opportunities you can feel grateful for?

7. Who are 3 people who have made a difference in your life during the last quarter?

Other people can be the greatest source of support, inspiration, motivation, and encouragement, particularly in our most challenging times.

Take a moment to think about three people who have helped make your life better during the last quarter.

These can be people you know, or maybe it's the author of a book or the host of a podcast.

8. What are 3 things you are most proud of?

It's so important that we recognise our achievements, both big and small.

Take your sense of accomplishment into the next quarter, knowing you're capable of wonderful things.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

Projection is my favourite part of the process!

I love looking into the future and dreaming about all the possibilities that lie ahead.

Of course, the future can be a scary place when you look from a perspective of fear, and focus on the things that may go wrong.

But when we look ahead to the future as the gift of more days to learn, love, share, and enjoy the life we're lucky enough to have, it can be super exciting.

Having a vision for the future you are working towards can be really helpful for projecting into the future to create your goals.

I like to visualise my goals and the journey towards them like an adventure towards a great castle.

Imagine that the ultimate vision for your life lies within a beautiful castle on the top of a great hill.

You can see it in the distance, you know roughly the direction you are heading, but there is no pathway to it: that is for you to create.

Many beautiful spots lie between you and the castle: fields of colourful flowers, a peaceful lake, a forest full of singing birds.

You might be able to predict the route you'll take, but until you take the journey you can't be sure.

You aren't to know how you'll cross the lake until you arrive and see if there's a bridge or a boat.

And you could plan on spending one short day walking through the field of flowers, but once you arrive you might just want to sit and enjoy the view for a while.

The point is to know where you're going, and the first place you need to arrive on the way, and nothing more.

Your quarterly goals should be an attraction point on the way to the castle.

You only need to plan your way to this stopping point for now; don't let yourself worry about the journey any further ahead.

The rest will fall into place once you get there: trust that it always does.

The Projection Questions can help you uncover your quarterly goals; these are projects which you can break down into monthly, weekly, and daily tasks.

This is the best way to know that every day you're making effective progress towards your goals, rather than running on a hamster wheel that gets you nowhere!

Now, it's time to get ambitious and think about the future.

Put yourself in a positive and excited mood, maybe light a candle and get comfy with your favourite drink, and let yourself dream big!

Here are my Quarterly Projection Questions:

1. What do you want to feel over the next quarter, and what are three Mini-Success Actions you can take each day to feel this way?

Get really intentional about how you want to feel this quarter.

If you want to feel happier, perhaps a Mini-Success Action could be incorporating a gratitude practice in with your morning coffee.

Or perhaps you want to feel motivated, and putting your vision board next to your bed to see each morning would remind you of the powerful 'why' behind your goals.

Make sure your Mini-Success Actions take less than 10 minutes each- the smaller they are the easier they will be to fit into your life consistently for the next 90 days.

2. With your big goals and dreams in mind, what would you like to achieve over the next quarter?

Let your mind run wild, and brainstorm all the projects and achievements you'd like to accomplish.

Then choose 1-6 that you would like to focus on this quarter.

Make sure these projects are written in a way in which you will know you have achieved them- make sure they are tick-off-able!

3. What would you like to experience over the next quarter?

Have some fun and choose up to 6 things you'd like to do and achieve.

While it's essential we make fun, creativity, and hobbies a high priority in our lives (work hard, play hard!), it's also important to celebrate our successes with fun activities and rewarding experiences.

4. What do you need to believe to make this quarter your best so far?

Come up with some empowering beliefs that will help you live the next three months with the mindset you need for success.

These can be great phrases to add to your vision board.

One of my favourite vision board beliefs is 'I was born to let my true self shine'- it's a great reminder to be your full, authentic, powerful self!

5. What is your word for the next quarter?

How do you want to feel?

What is your intention or focus for this next quarter?

What word or phrase will make you feel empowered?

6. For each of your projects, what are all the key tasks required to achieve these?

For each big project, make a list of everything you'll need to do to accomplish it.

Once you know exactly what you need to do to achieve each goal, you can divide the work over the next three months, taking into consideration any commitments or occasions that will affect your time and availability.

At the start of each month, you then have a list of tasks that you can share between the weeks, and a weekly task list to work on each day.

It may sound like a lot, but it's the best method to ensure that you are working towards the success you truly want, without getting pulled off course.

7. When will you commit to working towards each of your goals?

Now is a great time to get out your diary and block off time to work towards your quarterly goals.

When you know exactly what tasks you need to do each month, even 20 minutes a day towards your goals will accumulate into massive progress over the quarter.

Sometimes, the less time we have the more powerful our progress because we don't have time for anything but big, bold, and confident action!

8. What would it mean to you to achieve all your goals in the next 3 months?

Creating emotional meaning behind your goals is such a powerful force of motivation.

Connect with your 'why' as often as possible, particularly when you are lacking motivation.

Try visualising the accomplishment of your goals along the way to add extra fuel to your progress.

"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible"

-Tony Robbins

Although we should all work towards our goals with total belief that at the end of the 90 days we will have achieved ultimate success, remember that falling short does not equate to failure.

Each season of our life is there for a different purpose: sometimes life gets in the way!

As long as you take action to be 1% better each day, your time will come for success.

The benefits of this detailed, goal-oriented approach is that once you have your milestone goals, to be successful we just need to take consistent action on completing the tasks we created.

Whether we spend more or less time on this than we expect, every time we act we take one step towards our dream.

It's impossible not to succeed if we take one step towards our goals every day.

I hope this technique will be super effective for you, and I can't wait to hear of your progress in creating your dream life!

Things to try to stay on track!

• Journal through the 16 questions above to design a quarter that will propel you towards your dream life.

• Put your 'Word for the Quarter' somewhere you will see it every day.

• Read through your goals every morning.

• Create a daily plan to make intentional progress towards your goals.

• Check-in weekly and monthly to track your progress and ensure you're on track.