Kilkenny's international athlete sets out his goals for the year ahead

I’m never one to make New Year’s resolutions but I have been making goals over the last decade or so. Especially at the end of my time at university and the start of my working life, goals were great to help focus on what I wanted to achieve and help to set out what work needed to be done to achieve those goals.
I have been very lucky over the past few years to achieve a lot of my goals and to be happy where I am with life. I now have a lot of opportunities so I think going into 2019 it is about making sure that it’s either a hell yes or a no. Meaning I don’t want to commit to things I am not certain about. One of my tendencies is to want to do too much so I think in 2019 I will try be a little more picky in what I choose to do.
A few years ago I came across a great way of looking at goals that has helped me shape the goals I pick now. It frames the question as “I know I am being successful when…”.
Horizons Change
Our horizons and what we want to achieve always change. Once you achieve one thing we are moving onto the next and the thing that we have just achieved doesn’t feel relevant. We can be constantly chasing and as a result never stop to enjoy life.

Thinking about how I will be when I am successful, not what I will have helps to clarify what it is I want to achieve with my goals. My list changes a little every so often but here are five points that I wrote a week ago on reflection: I know I’m being successful when:
1 - I have time to work on my health. Not skipping gym sessions or squeezing in runs.
2 - I have time to think about ideas and execute the bests ones with help.
3 - My passive income exceeds my expenses (no worries about money)
4 - I have quality time with my wife Ger.
5 - I’m not having to organise my diary or other organisational things. I am working on my strengths.
Shape Goals
From the list you can see how they might help shape my goals that I set and what actions I look to take.
If I am doing these five things I would consider myself happy and successful. So I don’t want to say yes to things that won’t have me live in accordance with these five things.
The money goal of number three allows me to be focused on what investments and spending I make. I don’t want fancy stuff if it means paying loans as it will cause the expenses to go higher.
For me success with money is having freedom and not having to worry about it. Therefore, I try get enough investments and keep my expenses low so that if I ever lost my jobs my life would not change drastically. This helps set financial goals to achieve this in the years to come.
The other points are linked with time and being creative. I really enjoy lecturing, teaching Pilates and physio.
I want in 2019 to do more of these but maybe say no to other opportunities unless they really excite me. I also want to free up time by getting someone to do jobs I am not good at, like organising my physio diary so in 2019 I will try pay someone to do this for me, so if you know anyone let me know!
Ultimately, I think it is important to clarify first what life you want to live and then set out your goals. Otherwise you can chase goals that may not make you happy when you get there.