50 Life Goal Ideas to Get You Thinking About What You Really Want

Sometimes the hardest part of thinking about life goals is simply knowing what to put on the list.

Ask someone what they want to do this weekend and they can probably give you an answer. Ask what they want from the next ten or twenty years of their life and suddenly it becomes a much bigger question.

We also tend to hear the same kinds of goals repeated over and over. Buy a house. Get promoted. Save more money. Lose weight. Start a business. Travel more. They’re all perfectly valid goals if they’re things you genuinely want, but they barely scratch the surface of what a life can contain.

A life goals list can include the big milestones, but it can also include experiences, relationships, things you’d love to learn, places you’d like to see, changes you’d like to make at home, ways you’d like to spend your time and things that would simply make ordinary life better.

That’s what this list is for.

It isn’t a bucket list of 50 things I think everyone should do. You don’t need to want any of them. Instead, think of these life goal ideas as starting points. One might make you think of something completely different. Another might remind you of something you used to want. You may read one and immediately think, absolutely not, which can actually be useful too.

The idea isn’t to finish with 50 new goals.

It’s to finish knowing a little more about what you might want.

Experiences and adventures

1. Take the trip you’ve been talking about for years

Most of us have one. The destination that comes up whenever someone asks where we’d love to go, but somehow it remains permanently in the “one day” category. Maybe it’s Italy, Japan, New York, Antarctica or driving around Australia. Instead of simply writing “travel more”, think about the particular trip that keeps coming back to you.

2. Stay somewhere long enough to experience ordinary life there

A holiday and living somewhere, even temporarily, are completely different experiences. Perhaps you’d love to spend a month in a little apartment rather than moving hotels every few nights. Shop at the local supermarket, find your favourite café and have enough time that you don’t need to see everything today.

3. Do something that feels slightly unlike you

Not terrifying. Not dangerous. Just outside the version of yourself you’ve become accustomed to. Take the class alone, go somewhere you’ve never been, try something you normally leave to other people. Sometimes it’s nice to surprise yourself.

4. Take someone you love somewhere special

Perhaps there’s somewhere your mum has always wanted to go, a trip you’d love to take with your daughter, or somewhere meaningful you’d like to revisit with your partner. The goal isn’t really the destination. It’s the memory you want to create together.

5. See something extraordinary in person

The Northern Lights. A particular work of art. Wildlife in its natural environment. A landscape you’ve seen hundreds of times in photographs. A concert, sporting event or performance you’ve always wanted to experience. What is something you’d genuinely love to be able to say, I saw that?

6. Have a completely unplanned day somewhere new

Not every experience needs an itinerary. There is something lovely about arriving somewhere with no list of things you must see and simply wandering, eating, looking and deciding as you go.

7. Do the local things you keep leaving for tourists

Sometimes we’re so busy dreaming about distant places that we ignore what’s around us. Is there somewhere within a few hours of home you’ve always meant to visit? A walk, gallery, restaurant, little town or weekend away you’ve somehow never got around to?

Home and how you want to live

8. Create one room you absolutely love being in

Not because it will photograph beautifully, but because it makes you feel good when you walk into it. Maybe it’s your bedroom, kitchen, garden, reading corner or somewhere to work creatively. What would make your everyday surroundings feel more like you?

9. Live somewhere different, even if it’s only an idea for now

Maybe you dream about the coast, the country, another city or another country altogether. You don’t have to put your house on the market tomorrow. Sometimes it’s simply worth acknowledging that you can imagine yourself living differently one day.

10. Make your home somewhere people naturally gather

Perhaps your goal isn’t a bigger or more impressive home. Maybe you’d simply love a house where people stay for dinner, friends drop in, children bring people home and there’s always room for one more at the table.

11. Finish the thing you’ve been “meaning to do” at home

The photographs still waiting to be framed. The cupboard that needs sorting. The garden you keep imagining. The room you’ve never quite finished. A small home goal can be surprisingly satisfying because you get to enjoy the result every day.

12. Own fewer things, but like what you own more

For some people, the goal isn’t getting more. It’s gradually letting go of things they don’t use and becoming more deliberate about what comes into their home.

13. Create a little everyday luxury

Beautiful sheets. Fresh flowers occasionally. Really good tea. A chair in the sun. Music while you cook. It doesn’t need to be expensive. What small thing would make ordinary life feel better?

Money, security and freedom

14. Work out what “enough” money actually means to you

“Save more money” is difficult to feel excited about. What would the money give you? Security? Choices? The ability to help your children? Travel? A home? Less worry? Working fewer days? Understanding the reason behind a financial goal can make it feel much more meaningful.

15. Build a financial buffer that helps you sleep better

There is something very different about saving for security rather than saving for a purchase. Maybe your goal is simply to know that if something unexpected happens, you have some breathing room.

16. Learn enough about money to feel confident making your own decisions

You don’t need to become an investment expert. Perhaps you’d simply like to understand your superannuation, investing, mortgages, retirement or where your money actually goes each month without feeling intimidated by it.

17. Become debt-free from something that has been hanging around

A credit card, car loan or another debt that quietly takes money from every month. Sometimes the goal isn’t to become wealthy. It’s to remove one financial weight.

18. Save specifically for something that excites you

A trip. A renovation. A course. A piece of art. A year off. Giving a savings account a purpose can feel very different from simply watching a number increase.

19. Create enough freedom to work less

Maybe your ultimate financial goal isn’t earning more. Perhaps it’s getting to a point where you can work four days instead of five, take longer holidays, retire a little earlier or simply have more control over your time.

Relationships and the people who matter

20. Become the person who actually organises the catch-up

We’ve all said, “We really need to get together soon.” Sometimes a lovely goal is simply to stop waiting for someone else to organise it.

21. Create a tradition your family will remember

An annual weekend away. Sunday dinner. A Christmas ritual. A birthday tradition. A trip you repeat every few years. Traditions become part of a family’s history almost without us noticing.

22. Take more photographs of ordinary life

We remember to photograph holidays, birthdays and big events. It’s often the ordinary things we wish we’d captured later. The kitchen table. The dog asleep somewhere ridiculous. Your children on an ordinary Tuesday. Your parents just being themselves.

23. Make time for an old friendship

There are friendships that survive years of busy lives and long gaps between conversations. Perhaps there’s someone you’ve been meaning to reconnect with properly rather than exchanging another “we must catch up” message.

24. Be a good friend

This was actually one of the goals I found written in my own little goal book from my twenties, and I love it now because it isn’t something you ever finish. There is no date when you can tick it off and declare yourself done. Some of the most worthwhile life goals are really about how we want to show up for other people.

25. Ask the people you love more questions while you can

What was your mum like at 20? What did your dad want to be when he was young? What does your grandmother remember about her childhood? We often become interested in these stories when it’s too late to ask for them.

Learning and curiosity

26. Learn something with absolutely no career benefit

Not every course needs to improve your CV. Learn Italian because you love the sound of it. Learn ceramics because you want to make something with your hands. Study art history because you’re curious. Take cooking classes because you’d like to make really good pasta.

27. Become genuinely good at something you’ve always been a beginner at

Maybe you’ve dabbled in photography, tennis, painting, gardening or playing an instrument for years. What would happen if you gave yourself enough time to become properly good at it?

28. Read about something completely outside your usual interests

Pick a period of history, a country, a scientific idea, an artist or something you’ve never really understood. Curiosity doesn’t need a useful outcome.

29. Learn a practical skill you’ve always relied on someone else to do

It could be basic home repairs, using a power tool, changing a tyre, understanding your finances, growing vegetables or learning enough about technology that you stop handing your phone to someone younger every time something goes wrong.

30. Go back to study because you want to

Maybe there’s a qualification you never finished or an area you’ve become interested in much later in life. Going back to study doesn’t necessarily need to lead to a new career. Sometimes learning itself is the goal.

31. Teach someone something you know

We spend so much time thinking about what we still need to learn that we can forget how much we already know. Perhaps one of your goals could be mentoring someone, teaching your children a skill or passing on knowledge you’ve spent years acquiring.

Creativity and things you make

32. Return to something creative you used to love

Maybe you drew constantly when you were younger, played music, sewed, wrote, took photographs or made things and then adult life gradually pushed it out. You don’t need to become brilliant at it again. You could simply start.

33. Make something that exists because of you

Write the story. Paint the picture. Create the garden. Make the dress. Record the family recipes. Build the table. Start the little business. There is something satisfying about being able to point to something and think, I made that.

34. Finish one creative project instead of starting another

Creative people can be particularly good at collecting beginnings. Perhaps the goal is not another idea but choosing one existing idea and seeing what happens when you actually finish it.

35. Show something you’ve made to other people

Have the exhibition. Share the photographs. Publish the story. Wear the thing you made. Give your work to someone. You don’t need a huge audience. Sometimes allowing something you’ve created to be seen is a goal in itself.

36. Create something for your family to keep

A recipe book, photo album, written family history, collection of stories or something handmade. Not everything we create needs to become a business. Some things are valuable because of who they’re for.

Work and what you want it to give you

37. Decide what you actually want from work now

Your answer at 45 or 55 may be completely different from your answer at 25. Perhaps you still want challenge and progression. Maybe you want flexibility, security, creativity, independence or simply work that doesn’t follow you home.

38. Try something you’ve secretly wondered whether you could do

Start the side project. Apply for the role. Pitch the idea. Write the first page. You don’t have to immediately leave your job or completely reinvent yourself. Sometimes you can explore an idea without making it responsible for paying your mortgage.

39. Become very good at the part of your work you genuinely enjoy

Not every career goal needs to involve moving upwards. Maybe there’s an area you particularly enjoy and would like to become known for.

40. Help someone else move forward

Mentoring, teaching, recommending someone for an opportunity or simply sharing what you’ve learned can become one of the most satisfying parts of a long career.

41. Work towards a life where work isn’t always the biggest thing in it

There are stages when work has to take up enormous amounts of time. But perhaps one of your long-term goals is to eventually give some of that space back to other parts of your life.

Health, wellbeing and the future version of you

42. Choose a physical goal based on what you want to be able to do

Rather than starting with a number on a scale, perhaps the goal is to walk a particular trail, swim comfortably, travel without feeling exhausted, keep up with grandchildren one day or feel strong enough to keep doing the things you love.

43. Find a form of movement you don’t dread

Maybe the goal isn’t to become someone who loves the gym. It might be walking, dancing, swimming, Pilates, tennis or anything else you can imagine still doing years from now.

44. Protect your energy a little more

This could mean sleeping properly, saying no more often, having less packed into every weekend or recognising the people and situations that leave you depleted.

45. Do something your future self will be grateful for

Health appointments, strength, financial planning, friendships, learning, looking after your teeth, sorting out paperwork. Not every good goal is particularly glamorous.

Everyday life can have goals too

46. Have people over more often without waiting for everything to be perfect

The house doesn’t need to be immaculate and dinner doesn’t need to be impressive. Maybe the goal is simply to have more evenings around a table with people you like.

47. Read more of the books you keep buying

Not because reading a certain number of books makes you a better person, but because if you love reading and somehow never do it anymore, perhaps it’s worth making room for again.

48. Give yourself something to look forward to

A weekend away. Dinner somewhere lovely. A class. A concert. A day trip. It doesn’t need to be enormous. Having something on the horizon can change the feel of an ordinary month.

49. Create a version of your week that you actually enjoy

Perhaps there are small things you can change about the rhythm of everyday life. A slower Sunday morning, one night without plans, walking before work, dinner with family, an afternoon that’s protected for something you enjoy.

50. Keep a list of the things you’d still love to do

This might be the most useful goal of all.

You don’t need to decide today which ideas are realistic or how you’re going to achieve them. Just give them somewhere to live.

Keep the trip, the course, the creative idea, the financial goal, the ridiculous dream, the little everyday improvement and the thing you’ve been quietly thinking about for ten years.

Some will become real goals. Some won’t.

Some will happen almost accidentally. Some will require years of work. Some will stop mattering completely, and new things will take their place.

That’s exactly how it should be.

Your life goals list doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s

If you’ve read through these 50 life goal ideas and only three made you stop and think, that’s enough.

In fact, I’d rather you came away with three things that genuinely interest you than a list of 50 goals you feel you should want.

The purpose of thinking about life goals isn’t to create another enormous list of things to achieve. It’s to notice what draws your attention.

Maybe the idea about taking someone you love somewhere special stayed with you. Perhaps it was working less, learning something purely for enjoyment or creating a home where people naturally gather. Maybe none of those were quite right, but they made you think of something else entirely.

That’s the useful part.

When I created A Life in Goals, I wanted there to be room for all of these different kinds of goals. Not only the big milestones, but the experiences, practical plans, financial ideas, relationships, creative interests and seemingly ordinary things that together make up a life.

I also wanted there to be room for goals that aren’t ready yet.

You might write something down today that you can’t realistically do for another ten years. That doesn’t mean it has no place on your list. You might write something that feels incredibly important now and discover two years later that you don’t want it at all.

That’s okay too.

A life goals journal shouldn’t become another place where you measure yourself against an old version of who you thought you were going to be. It can be somewhere you keep the conversation going.

What do I want now?

What am I curious about?

What would I love more of?

What might I regret never trying?

What would simply make my life better?

And what would I love to be able to look back on one day and say, I’m so glad I did that?

You don’t need all the answers.

You just need somewhere to start thinking.