Every once in a while, it is time to take a step back and take a look at the whole of life.

Take a deep breath. 

Happiness is the goal, not the destination.

The journey ought to be joyous, not without the pain of growth, loss, and failure.

You must adopt a much broader scope for this part of the planning process than the previous section. Seeing life’s big picture takes practice and consideration of all its parts.

There are essentially five aspects of life: social, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and physical. Each can be broken down further, such as social family, friends, work associates, and social media. In general, and for this post, we are going to think big picture thinking with the five!

Separate each aspect of life into its sub-element and address them individually, such as breaking down the social category to professional and work associates, family, friends, and social media. These five aspects will help you examine your goal from different perspectives, each providing an opportunity to look at your goals in a new way. Consider making a list in your business journal for each about the positive and negative impacts of not only the goal but the steps necessary to achieve the goal. List who may be impacted and how. Try to adapt to the self you present to these various aspects and sub-aspects when considering the impacts. You are answering how each of these aspects is impacted by the process of achieving the goal. People splice their life in different and unique ways; utilizing the five structures will likely gain a more complete view of the goal and the positive and negative impacts of the decisions being made.

For example, your availability may decrease due to time commitments. This type of planning can provide the opportunity to avoid unintended consequences. You can make decisions on those in your community events that may be impacted.

For example, if you are writing a book and setting time aside every week to work on a SMART Goal, you will have less time for client care starting at 4 pm – 530pm to dedicate. You know this because family time is off-limits; your time with your friends is already limited and essential to happiness. You know the time must be taken for the book from working. You may choose to send an email to manage expectations, or you may want to engage a new CRM, so that the work becomes more fluid. You may choose to hire someone to manage some of the work for you. You may also have the plan to share your author’s journey on social media. Letting your clients feel involved or vested in the book as your write it. This process allows you to sit back and think about it the impact of the SMART goal on your social life.

Your time is your most fantastic and scarce resource, and you should be the master of it. Where and how you spend your time is a large part of how happy you are. Make sure your goals are impacting these aspects in acceptable ways. Both in the time you dedicate toward your goals and the time that curves your other social needs. Seeing yourself as a whole person can go a long way in finding your unique strategies for how you want to live life.

A tolerable growing pain that does not steal the joy of the journey.