If you’re a serial planner, coming up with life goals just seems like the next natural step. This list of 100 life goals ideas is perfect for the person who needs a little extra inspiration to have a fulfilling life.
Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night with the thought, “What the heck am I doing with my life?” You wring your hands and your anxiety builds into this ginormous bubble because you’re laying there wondering where the fun in your life has gone and what you can do to turn it around before it’s too late.
I have absolutely been there. There are times when I’m worried that I’m not doing enough for myself. Will I have no regrets on my deathbed?
Will you?
It’s with this post that I felt compelled to write examples of bucket list items or life goals for anyone seeking them, which I’m guessing is you.
My hope is that these ideas aren’t just going to be whimsical notions, but that you’ll find them to be tangible things you could if you chose to. Things no one is going to take away from you, that you can look back on with joy and satisfaction.
After all, that’s what a life goal is supposed to be, right?
This post is a compilation of 100 life goals ideas.
Table of Adventures
How to Write a List of Life Goals
First thing’s first – how in the world do we write a list of life goals? This is possibly the easiest part of it all (the figuring out and actually doing is the hard part).
It’s simple:
- Decide where you want your life to be when you’re old and wrinkly. And if you’re already old and wrinkly, decide what one thing would make you happy to have lived your life with no regrets.
- Plan for that life in large chunks (whether in annual, semi-annual, multi-year intervals).
For example, you may have this grand idea of living in a large home with three kids and the poster dog Golden Retriever at your heel. How are you going to get there?
But did you feel that? That ache and passion for that idea to come true? That’s how you write your list.
Use your head and your feelings to write your list of life goals.
Your life goals should be what you are passionate about accomplishing and the hell of a ride you’ll have doing it.
Related: How to Set Monthly Goals When You Suck At Doing Them
Understand Your Core Values
Before you try to figure out where your head and your feelings are, you need to understand what drives you.
Are you passionate about writing and having that creative spirit? Or are you striving to help better someone’s life?
For me, I am working towards building generational wealth to give my future imaginary children the means to live their lives out the way that they want without monetary restrictions.
Write down your core values, write your list, and make them tangential so that they’re really meaningful to you. To be fair I should also let you in on a little secret: your values will change over time.
Check-in with yourself every few years to see if your life goals need a tweak or no longer make you excited to accomplish.
100 Life Goals Ideas List
Career Life Goals
- Become your own boss and start your own successful business.
- Become CEO of your company.
- Become an authority figure in your field.
- Publish a novel.
- Get promoted to a leadership position running your own team.
- Patent your life-changing invention.
- Make a career change and try something new.
- Positively influence your industry towards change.
- Earn a certification within your field to make you irreplaceable at your company.
- Set an ambitious career goal ($10 million in sales; 500 clients, etc.) and ace it.
- Get a job at your dream company. Yay!
Financial Life Goals
- Plan for retirement extensively and finally say goodbye to working.
- Accumulating enough wealth to send your children to a boarding school and/or the college of their dreams.
- Paying off your student loans, credit cards, and any remaining debts and stay debt-free.
- Building a one-year emergency fund.
- Fund the vacation of a lifetime.
- Write your will and keep it fair and honest.
- Improve your quality of life by earning that raise and putting your new spending power towards house cleaning, a personal assistant, or anything that gives you more time in the day.
- Invest 10% of your income and have it work for you.
- Supplement your day job by earning as much or more in passive income.
Health & Fitness Life Goals
- Run an entire marathon – like the Boston or New York marathons.
- Learn how to meditate and open your chakras.
- Compete in a bodybuilding competition and win in any category.
- Become a certified yogi.
- Swim the English Channel or climb a mountain.
- Quit smoking and any other unhealthy habits.
- Consult with a dietician and build a healthier relationship with food, long-term.’’
- Decide on a healthy weight and maintain it for 10 years.
- Participate in a Tough Mudder.
Relationship (Family/Social) Life Goals
- Choose a wonderful, caring, attentive life partner.
- Being a supportive and caring spouse and parent.
- Make a list of your closest friends and commit to staying in touch with them, no matter where life takes you.
- Stay involved with your kid’s activities – whether that’s sports, plays, PTA conferences, etc.
- Adopt/foster a child.
- Create a lasting family and friend tradition for each of the holidays you celebrate.
- Find a therapist you trust and work through your issues so you don’t pass them on.
- Reconnect with your parents as an adult by taking them on a family vacation they can always look back on.
- Give a speech at a wedding.
Creative & Recreational Life Goals
- Learn to paint until you’re comfortable hanging something in your home.
- Train in a sport until you’re good enough to do it competitively.
- Go skydiving.
- Do a firewalk.
- Teach a class in a hobby that you are skilled in.
- Going to a grandiose music festival like Coachella or Lollapalooza.
- Learn to code and create an app of your own.
- Write a play and have it performed at your local theater.
- Practice a skill until you get to a new level (like becoming a chess master, or finishing the New York Times crossword).
Personal Development Life Goals
- Overcome your fear of rejection and try standup comedy for a night.
- Find your purpose in life.
- Make peace with someone who’s hurt you and learn to forgive. (Assuming they deserve it.)
- Donate your time and help those less fortunate than you.
- Read 100 books on a topic that interests you.
- Master the 12 basic asanas (yoga poses) and practice breathing out the stress on a daily basis.
- Volunteer for a position of leadership in a club or group you are a member of and use it as a chance to develop your confidence.
- Attend a leadership training seminar.
- Take a risk – in business, in your personal life. Believe in yourself and strive to succeed. Even if you fail, you’ll never regret it.
- Take an adult education course (or three!) to keep your brain learning and growing.
- Talk to a professional development coach for an objective take on your strengths and weaknesses.
Related: 17 Powerful Daily Habits That Will Improve Your Life
Knowledge Life Goals
- Go to college and complete your degree; finish your degree (undergraduate, Master’s, Ph.D.); or earn another degree in a subject you’re passionate about.
- Become fluent in another language, or in several to be a true polyglot!
- Take a creative writing class and practice turning your creativity into words.
- Learn to fly a plane.
- Learn CPR, first aid, or any other survival skills you could use in an emergency.
- Host a bake sale and show off your homemade bread, cookies, cupcakes, or whatever other delicious concoctions you can come up with.
- Learn more about the history of your town, your state, or your country. Visit all the museums in your area to learn why it is the way it is.
- Take a conflict resolution course.
- Write a letter to a famous intellectual you admire, sharing your thoughts. Maybe they’ll even write back!
- Volunteer to help teach someone how to read.
Travel Life Goals
- Road trip through the entire country of where you live.
- See all of the 7 wonders of the world.
- Visit all of the major metropolitan areas of the world (places such as New York City, Paris, London, Tokyo, Sydney, etc).
- Live in another country for at least 6 months.
- Learn to scuba dive in the beautiful tropics.
- Fly around the world on a round-the-world ticker.
- Choose a new type of cuisine, outside of your comfort zone, and try all the main dishes at least once.
- Visit all the national parks in the United States
- Volunteer abroad.
- Take a Road Scholar trip and meet intellectually-curious people from all over the world.
- Visit all of the theme parks in your country (or the world!).
- Go on an ethical safari and see some of the world’s majestic creatures in their natural habitat.
Giving Back Life Goals
- Donate $1,000,000+ to the organization of your choosing.
- Adopt several safari animals at reputable sanctuaries.
- Become a mentor to children.
- Help improve your neighborhood or your old stomping grounds by participating in your area’s restorative projects.
- Help someone to feel loved, cared for, seen, beautiful.
Legacy Life Goals
- Leave behind generational wealth.
- Have your college alma mater name a building after you.
- Make such a positive impact in the world that a day is named in your honor.
- Become a philanthropist.
- Write an autobiography.
- Simply impacting people to be better.
Lifestyle Life Goals
- Be a hot mom.
- Have the nicest home during the season (this one really speaks to me since I want to be known as the house that plans the nicest and lushest parties in our neighborhood!).
- To live in your dream home, in your dream state, or in your dream country.
- Eat at a Michelin-rated restaurant in the location of your choice.
- To live each day like a child: in wonder and in play.
- Set a world record in something you’re passionate about or you’re generally proud of.
- Doing something that terrifies you and you making it out the other side happy you tried it.
- Constantly saying “yes” to new experiences.
- Live authentically.
What Are Your Great Life Goals?
Whether you think of these as life goals or milestones, I hope that this list of 100 life goals ideas helped spark some ideas for you to really reach and find something that you’re willing to strive for.
If you’re wondering how to even get started on your journey to accomplishing your life goals, you’ve got to get your monthly goals underway. If you need help with that, check out this article: How to Set Monthly Goals (Even If You Suck At Them).
In any case …
Be happy. Live a satisfying life. Enjoy every moment.
Even if you don’t get to everything that you want to achieve, I wish all of that and more for you.
Interested in more? Check out these other posts:
How to Set Monthly Goals When You Feel Like You’re Really Bad At Them
45 Simple Ways to Motivate Yourself
17 Powerful Daily Habits Meant to Improve Your Life