Your First and Most Important Goals for 2010

Before you rush into setting a bunch of goals for 2010, there is something you must do.

You must identify one significant goal for each of the four most important areas of your life:

1. Your health — without which most of the others don’t matter

2. Your wealth — which is undeniably important, so treat it as such

3. Your personal self — your hobbies and interests

4. Your social self — your friends, family, and community

Make each of these four goals very specific.

Let’s say your health goal is fitness-oriented — maybe to become measurably stronger, leaner, more flexible, and to have greater endurance. Specifically, that would mean adding three pounds of muscle to your body, taking off four pounds of fat, being able to do a proper Sun Salutation in yoga, and running a mile in seven minutes.

You see how it works?

Your job today is to set these four big goals. To set them and commit to them.

The upcoming year can be the healthiest, wealthiest, and wisest year of your life. It starts today.

[Ed. Note: Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]