what does your ideal life look like?

It's day 3 and 4 of Goal Setting Week and it's time to roll up your sleeves (or, unroll your exercise mat) and do some thinking.

Your mission for the weekend, if you choose to accept it, is to think about what you want and imagine your ideal life. Do you own your own business? Are you the CEO of a company? Maybe you spend your days painting or surfing. What exactly is it that raises the hairs on your arms when you think about it? Don't limit yourself and see what happens. To get started, answer this question: If money was no object, what would you be doing with your life?

related goal setting reading

What Are Your Secret Goals?

Check out our Big, Hairy and Audacious Goal (BHAG) photos from BHAG month in June:

Have fun dreaming in your Saturday morning savasana, and see you on Monday for Day 5!

I like to use a variety of mediums and formats to keep goal setting fresh, to keep my goals handy, and most importantly, to keep it feeling fun!

How I do it:

1. chalkboard goals

The chalkboard in my dining room! Just cleaned and ready for my 2011 goals to be written.

A set of goals buried away in a desk drawer or in an email folder somewhere doesn’t get you anywhere. Making goals public and visible is one of the most important things you can do to ensure you hold yourself accountable to your goals, and remind yourself what exactly it is you are hoping to accomplish out of this life.

I keep my goals visible on a BIG chalkboard in my kitchen, along with another chalkboard in my dining room. My partner sees my goals and I’m faced with my dreams and ambitions each and every day. This keeps me focused on action. Plus they do double duty as home décor.

2. goals on twitter

I tweet my goals! Any time I come up with a new goal I am working on, I share it with my followers and they help hold me accountable.

3. goals on facebook

Look at the response in under 8 minutes! These are my friends supporting my goal and who will ultimately hold me accountable to reaching it.

I update my Facebook status when I set new goals, again ensuring that my friends help hold me accountable. This also leads to conversation around my goals, helping me flush out the details and create strategic and fun plans to support them.

4. blogging goals

I update my goals a handful of times a year on my personal blog. I like using a list format to feel like I am really making headway, and I cross the goals off through the year as I achieve them. There is a comment function on my blog, and it’s a great space to get support and create conversation around some of the biggest, baddest and scariest goals. I also share my goals on the lululemon.com blog and on our internal company blog. The more people that read my goals means more people that can support me in achieving them in one way or another.

5. goals at work

I have a framed copy of my goals front and centre on my desk at work; framed in a big white Ikea frame. At our office in Vancouver we post our goals in the stairwell. Everyone walking between floors sees our goals, and it’s an incredible way to start conversations and get related with our coworkers.

6. goals as art

I actually frame old copies of my goals and hang them on my wall at home. It’s a neat way to see a progression of my goals over time. It’s humbling to see the goals I set and revised or didn’t achieve, and inspiring to see all the ones I did!

7. writing goals; with a pen

My handwritten “thought bubble” goals I keep on my fridge. Writing goals this way feels more fluid and creative to me!

As the Digital Innovation Manager for lululemon, I rarely use a pen anymore. I tote around two laptops most places I go, and am never more than a centimetre or two from a keyboard. Most of my goals are typed – in one form or another. For me, handwriting my goals feels quite special. I have a handwritten, paper version of my goals tacked to my fridge. There’s something about putting pen to paper that gets the creativity out of me. The format I use when I write my goals by hand also changes. I like to use a brainstorm bubble from time to time. This paints a more vivid picture of my life rather than using a rigid format.

8. email

I use a tool called FutureMe.org! This website allows you to email yourself in the future. Why not try emailing yourself your goals right before their due date? Just last week I got an email from myself (from 5 years ago no less) that asked me if I was “working for myself yet?” The answer is yes (I run a business in my non-lululemon time) and it felt great getting a kick in the bum from my past self!

9. online tools

Goaltender is lululemon’s goal setting site, and another great resource to set goals. 43Things is another personal favourite online resource for me. I use both of these sites regularly to set goals in unique ways. Changing the format keeps goal setting fresh.

10. goals as passwords

I’m pretty sure this “goal setting tip” secures my fate as being the ultimate geek. For all my online passwords, whether it’s email, Facebook, Foursquare or wherever else I am online, I create a unique password that is tied to my goals. For example, if I had a goal to “Attend 30 hot yoga classes in one month” I might set a password like HotYoga30. Think about how many times you enter a password online each day. 10 times? 200? Each and every time you are faced with that login screen, you’ll also be reminded of your goals. This helps ensure your goals are top of mind and creates a space for goal setting 365 days a year.

What are some of the ways you set goals?

Name: Cassandra
BHAG: I will become certified in yoga on an ashram in India by December 2011.

Name: Nettie
BHAG: To walk this slackline with no fear by this summer.

Name: Holly
BHAG: I am the community guru in Italy by 01/01/2014.

Name: Laura
BHAG: Break 3:10 in a marathon by 2011.

Name:Lisa
BHAG: I started running in January and have completed a 10K race. My BHAG is to run a half marathon by the end of 2010.

Name: Monica
BHAG: Get my PT ACE Certification and complete a triathlon by 2012!

Name: Lindsay
BHAG: I am at peace as a working mom.

Name: Terri (before)
BHAG: Shave my head for a friend with cancer.

Name: Terri (after)

Name: Amanda
BHAG: After a 136 pound weight loss in 2009, my BHAG for 2011 is to finish my first Ultra Marathon of at least 50km. If I can go from a size 24 to a size 6, I can do anything!

Name: Hanna
BHAG: Pass the real estate exam by October 2010.

Name: Michelle
BHAG: I go to dinner and a movie with someone like [see above!] by July 31st.

Name: Kate
BHAG: I complete a 1/2 Ironman by July 31st!

Name: Kala
BHAG: To be dancing en pointe by 2013.

Names: Megan & Julie
BHAG: To race in a half marathon (inline/running) by Summer 2011.

Name: Jennifer
BHAG: I want to break 2 hours in my next 1/2 marathon!

more BHAGs!

Check out the BHAG Facebook photo albums from some of our stores:

lululemon Eaton Centre
lululemon Whyte Ave
lululemon Sherway Gardens
lululemon Denver

Thank you everyone for contributing during the Daily BHAG month. Stay tuned for a blog follow up, when we check in on the status of some of your goals!