Building a strong connection with your partner requires more than just shared experiences; it needs deep conversations and understanding. One of the most effective ways to nurture your relationship is by asking the right questions to your partner. In this blog, we will guide you through various types of questions that can deepen your bond, and help you grow together as a couple. But first, let's understand why asking the right questions is important. Why Asking Thoughtful Questions to Strengthen Relationships is Important? Asking the right questions can breathe new life into your relationship, helping you connect on a deeper level. Regular, meaningful conversations peel back emotional layers, building trust and understanding. Whether you’re chatting about lighthearted topics or digging into core issues, these discussions strengthen your bond and keep the relationship strong. Don’t avoid uncomfortable questions, as they often bring the most rewarding insights. To improve relationships, create a list of conversation questions for couples to express their thoughts and feelings. One question at a time can spark romance and keep the relationship fresh. Or maybe if you want to lighten the date a good option can be using card games for couples. How To Improve Relationships? Improving relationships is an exciting journey that can make your connection feel alive and stronger. According to the Mental Health Foundation, to improve relationships, start by asking questions that encourage open communication and emotional connection. Building trust and understanding through meaningful conversations helps strengthen the bond between partners. Regularly asking thoughtful questions can remove emotional layers, revealing each other's desires and needs. Discussing both lighthearted and deeper topics keeps your relationship healthy and balanced.  Make a list of questions that cover key areas like romance, boundaries, and shared experiences. Approach these conversations with an open heart. Tools like the Intimacy Deck can provide guided prompts, helping improve emotional intimacy and connection. The more you share, the more fulfilling your relationship will be! What Questions Should Couples Ask Each Other? Essential Questions for Couples To Strengthen Their Bond To truly strengthen your bond, it's essential to ask each other the right relationship questions. Questions like: "What do you appreciate most about our relationship?" "How can we support each other better?" These questions act as key moments for growth in your relationship. They show your partner that you genuinely care about their feelings while also helping both of you discover areas for improvement. Questions to Ask During Dinner for a Deeper Connection Dinner is the perfect time for meaningful conversations. Try asking: "What was your favorite childhood experience?" "What’s something you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t yet?" These questions spark nostalgia and curiosity, letting you learn more about your partner’s background and dreams. Sharing personal stories and funny experiences can help you understand each other better, turning a simple meal into a cherished memory and creating a deeper bond that strengthens your relationship. Conversation Questions To Explore Each Other’s Dreams Understanding each other's dreams is vital in keeping a relationship vibrant. Ask questions like: "If you could achieve one dream in your lifetime, what would it be?" "What adventure would you like us to embark on together?" These conversation questions encourage both of you to share their aspirations, allowing you to align your goals and dreams. When you support each other's ambitions, you create a partnership that thrives on encouragement and mutual respect, enhancing your overall connection. How to Use Questions as a Communication Tool in Your Relationship Effective Ways To Ask Questions for Better Understanding Good communication is key to any strong relationship, and asking thoughtful questions is a great way to improve it. Approach your partner with curiosity and openness when asking questions. For example, instead of just saying, "How was your day?" try mixing it up with something more engaging, like: "What was the most exciting part of your day?" This small shift can lead to deeper, more meaningful conversations that help you both connect on a more personal level! Creating a Safe Space for Open Dialogue For questions to be effective, it’s crucial to create a safe space for open dialogue. Encourage your partner to express themselves without fear of judgment. You might say: "I want to hear your thoughts, and I promise to listen without interrupting." Establishing this kind of trust allows for more honest conversations, which can help you navigate sensitive topics together. This emotional safety is essential for fostering intimacy and connection, enabling both partners to share their true selves. Using Questions To Navigate Conflicts Questions aren't just great for deepening connections; they can also help smooth things over during disagreements. When conflicts arise, try asking things like: "What do you need from me to feel supported in this situation?" "How can we resolve this together?" These questions help both partners work together to solve problems and better understand each other's feelings and perspectives. By keeping communication open and honest, you can turn disagreements into chances to grow, which ultimately strengthens your relationship. Questions To Ask To Get To Know Someone Romantically If you're just starting your romantic journey, asking thoughtful questions can help you get to know each other on a deeper level. Consider asking: "What qualities do you value most in a partner?" "What does a perfect date look like to you?" These questions not only spark great conversations but also help you learn more about your partner's preferences and values. As you explore each other's thoughts and feelings, you're building a foundation for a strong, lasting relationship. Start Your Journey to Better Conversations with BestSelf Co. Meaningful communication is essential for any relationship to thrive. By asking the right questions, you open the door to deeper understanding, emotional intimacy, and trust. Tools like the Intimacy Deck can guide couples toward more insightful and fulfilling conversations, helping them connect on a deeper level.  Whether you're navigating a new relationship or rekindling the spark in a long-term partnership, thoughtful dialogue can strengthen your bond and foster lasting growth. Start improving your connection today, one question at a time with BestSelf Co.

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Discover practical tips and tools to help your child cope with back-to-school stress and changes. Use the Little Talk Deck for meaningful conversations and the Little Hero's Journal to track progress and build confidence. Learn how to establish routines, encourage resilience, and support your child's emotional well-being.

By Georgina El Morshdy Do you struggle to feel purposeful in your life or fulfilled in your relationships?  Maybe you feel disconnected from your to-do list - or you’re always thinking about how much better life will be when you’ve achieved your latest round of goals.  Perhaps you don’t feel as aligned as you’d like. You can’t quite put your finger on why, but you know there’s a disconnection between what you want and what you’re actually doing.  It’s frustrating and irritating when something feels off!  Fortunately, there is a way to empower yourself to make aligned decisions, feel more purposeful, and gain direction for your life.  Enter your CORE VALUES… A simple, yet powerful tool that will help you understand yourself at a deeper level; empowering your best self to thrive in ALL areas of your life.  Let me show you how… What are Core Values? Your core values are the things you decide matter most in your life.  They’re the things that make your heart beat that little bit faster with excitement. The experiences that leave you with a sense of awe. The moments when time stands still. When you’re living life in alignment with your values, you feel alive. You feel more purposeful too because life just works. You experience moments that are ‘well-lived’; adding beautiful things to your memory box.  When life unfolds in alignment with your values, there’s little resistance. You’re in your flow and you find your zone. You’re not clock-watching or wishing you could be somewhere else. You’re fully present and switched on.  We’ve all had meaningful moments like these.  When I think of my life, some of the experiences that spring to mind are travelling through India, listening to a soul-deep conversation that ignites something inside, or feeling my heart about to burst at my son’s beautiful smile.   I feel the same when visiting a new beach, when reading a book that shifts my thinking, or when talking into the night with my husband.  There’s a reason these kinds of experiences make me feel alive. They each connect back to my three Core Values.  I don’t get the same feelings doing something that doesn’t light me up. I don’t feel as vibrant when cleaning the car, sorting through my paperwork, or tending to the garden. And it’s not that these tasks aren’t necessary. The difference is they’re not as important to me because they don’t fit into any of my Core Values. The power to create more moments that matter When you know your Core Values, you don’t have to cross your fingers and hope you’ll experience more of the things that matter. Instead, you can create them intentionally. • Carve out time in your calendar • Set aligned goals • Delegate tasks, errands, and to-dos that take you away from your Core Values. In turn, your life becomes all the richer.  But how do you discover your Core Values?  Keep reading and I’ll show you how... How to define your core values Discovering your Core Values is an intuitive process. There is no right or wrong value - just the values that are right for you.  The easiest way is to browse a list of values words - something the Core Values Deck can help you do.      As you browse through the deck’s 150 words, your instincts will kick in. Sort into three categories:  • ‘NO’ - discard these. • ‘MAYBE’ - pop these onto your shortlist.• ‘HOT YES’ - add to your definite pile. Aim for a maximum of three Core Values. Any more becomes unmanageable [and three is the magic number!]   As your shortlist shrinks, you may struggle to pick between words. If this happens, look tor the umbrella word. For example, curiosity might drive your creativity. If so, curiosity is the value you’d pick.  My Core Values are Love, Adventure, and Wisdom.  Now you can see why the memories I shared earlier meant so much!    • I love travelling, spontaneity, and going to new places because adventure is so important to me. • I love learning, new insights, and conversations that crack something open up because I’m inspired by wisdom. • I enjoy moments of soul-deep connection because I desire to feel love.  This is where your analytical, logical mind can add to the process. When you’ve found a word that feels right, simply trawl your brain for memories to back this up.  For example, I knew adventure was right for me because so many of my favorite memories are from my travels and trips. Other words came close. I contemplated freedom for a while, but ‘freedom’ didn’t land in the same way as adventure - even though they have similarities.  Explore how you’ll live each value day-to-day. The real magic of your Core Values is using them to craft your life.  Define your Core Values, ignite your Best Self Define your Core Values and you’ll unlock the confidence that comes from knowing you’re always headed in the direction of your best self. When you know what you care about most and you build your life around these values, you get to feel great!  And isn’t that what we want most.  What are your three Core Values?  Feel free to share a picture of your three words on social; tagging us @bestselfco.

For many of us, change is a paradox. We want it, but also we don’t!  On the one hand, we resist change because it’s so uncomfortable! Change requires us to get out of our comfort zone and do something different. But sometimes, change is non-negotiable - especially when you reach a point in your life where the status quo no longer satisfies. Whether it’s your health, your finances, your career, your relationships - even external circumstances - you feel called to do something different.  This creates a tipping point.  When the pain of things staying as they are exceeds the pain of creating something different, change happens.  But did you know that you can impact the pace at which change happens with the conversations you have? Keep reading to discover FOUR proven techniques that will help you spark conversations for change in all areas of your life.  Start with yourself  The most important conversations you have are the ones you conduct with yourself - and this takes a commitment to inner work.  Studies say that around 95% of the brain’s activity is subconscious. In short, our default thinking and responses happen on autopilot in reaction to our ingrained habits and belief systems.  If you’re unaware of your instinctive behaviors and thoughts, it’s harder to know who you are and what you want.  Journaling can help you discover the truth of who you are. Through the safety and privacy of your journal, you can: • Explore your thoughts and feelings• Challenge your preconceptions and work through your blocks and triggers • Get clearer on what you really want and what you stand for In turn, when you do have important conversations, you can come at them from a place of self-awareness. You’ll have more confidence too because you’ll be able to express your thoughts and feelings to other people with more clarity and conviction.  And that certainty can help inspire other people to believe in the change you want to see.   Active listening Most people listen to speak, NOT to understand.  There’s a big difference.  If you only listen to speak, you’ll miss out on the nuances of the conversation. You’ll overlook important body language clues and facial expressions too - all of which could give you a more in-depth insight into how the other person is thinking and feeling.  In the absence of active listening, you also subconsciously communicate to the other person that you’re not overly interested in what they have to say - which could cause them to shut down and hold back.  Active listening can open doors because it makes people feel seen and heard. You practice active listening when you concentrate fully on the other person. You make eye contact, ask clarifying conversations to ensure you understand, reflect what you hear, and avoid getting distracted.  Master active listening, and you’ll create space where the conversations that matter can really go somewhere.  Deep conversation How often do we settle for surface-level chitchat when talking with another person?  It’s tempting to stick with those comfortable, easy topics that don’t push any buttons, but it’s not necessarily the right thing to do.  As people, we are deep.  Each of us is a rich plethora of experiences, insights, and passions - and meaningful, purposeful conversations allow us to get to know each other better.  In-depth conversations are a great way to uncover someone else’s objections and fears. Digging below the surface can help you better understand someone else’s motivations and behaviors too.  And all this knowledge will empower you to spark conversations that matter.  So take a risk!  Ask questions that dig below the surface - and see how much more connected you feel as a result.  Be willing to be vulnerable Conversations can feel exposing - especially when we’re sharing something controversial or talking about topics and issues that feel uncomfortable.  As social beings, we have an inherent need to feel included. This is why the fear of rejection, judgement, and criticism can cause us to hold back from what our heart wants to say.  Conversions for change DO take courage.  You have to be willing to be vulnerable and step out of your comfort zone. You’ll want to speak your truth - even if it feels confronting.  So let your guard down. Take a chance [this becomes easier once you’ve done the inner work outlined in point #1]. Speak your truth and share from your heart.  Allow your emotions to infuse your words and be real. As Maya Angelou said, “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with deeper meaning.”  As well as recruiting support for your vision, conversations are an incredible way to resolve issues, get clarity, and identify your best next steps.  In this way, conversations have the power to change who we are, what we think, what we do, and what other people do.  So let’s get talking 💕 Let’s talk - even when it feels uncomfortable.  Let’s share - even when it makes you feel scared.  Let’s go deeper - even though it’s vulnerable.  Because when we talk, empathy and compassion increases.  Understanding rises.  And positive change can emerge. Discover Conversation Tools    

Super exciting news! Monica, our Director of Customer Experience, just made second place for the Customer Service Leader of the Year Award at the Incite Customer Service Awards. We couldn’t be more proud. These prestigious awards give customer service professionals the chance to be celebrated amongst their peers. Not only do these awards celebrate people who exceed customer expectations, but it’s a chance to recognize innovation, exemplary performance, and leadership within customer service. The awards ceremony took place in San Diego on the 3rd June at the Customer Service Summit West. This annual event brings together industry professionals to share best practice and ideas. Monica said she came away from the summit with new ways to enhance the experience for BestSelf customers and can’t wait to go back next year as well. There were three different customer service award categories acknowledged at the event and each was hotly contested. Solution Provider of the Year Customer Success Brand of the Year Customer Service Leader of the Year The companies short-listed for the finals included the likes of Google, Alaska Airlines, The Home Depot, and Wells Fargo. The judging panel was full of top brands too including top level leaders from companies such as Mastercard, Samsung, Amazon, WeWork, Microsoft, and Starbucks. Monica was up for the Customer Service of the Year Award - an award that acknowledges “an individual who has led an exceptional project, team or transformation”. Some of the reasons Monica made the shortlist was for her ability to take on any and all challenges thrown at her and because of her desire to jump into the trenches with the entire customer service team. “My favorite part about customer service is the customers! I love connecting with people and hearing their story. BestSelf gives me the unique opportunity to really help people. For me, coming up with new ways to surprise and delight our customers makes my day.” - Monica Monica said she felt extremely humbled and proud to make it to the short-list. There were over 200 applicants and she felt in awe of the other finalists and was proud to be nominated alongside other big names. And Monica was up against very stiff competition [including Google and Alaska Airlines], but she crushed it to score second place. It’s an incredible result and one the entire BestSelf Team is insanely proud of. We think it’s the external recognition that Monica richly deserves. She’s had over 10 years of customer service experience and has recently celebrated her 3 year anniversary at BestSelf.Co. We all love her and she’s made a significant mark on the company. In the words of Cathryn Lavery, BestSelf’s co-founder, “Thank you for all your hard work and thoughtfulness, you rock your job role and every other other role you fill just because you see a need. Our team is better because of you.” Yup, there’s a lot love for Monica because she’s just so amazing! Monica’s a much-loved leader who’s admired by the team and always draws out the best in people - inspiring them to develop as individuals through their work, take on new challenges, and cope with pressure and the need to adapt. Customer service at BestSelf.Co Customer service is at the heart of the BestSelf brand. We know the experience you get when shopping on our store or using our products makes a world of difference. We invest heavily to ensure you’re get the service, support, and quick response you expect and deserve. We may be biased, but we think Monica is one of the best in her field. Whether she’s handling questions and queries or resolving problems and concerns, Monica is always on it. She’s always finds a way! She’s proactive too and often anticipates challenges before they even arise. Monica, we love you and congratulate you. You’re the best. To learn more about the Customer Service Summit.

If you want to be your best self, you better get some sleep! That’s because sleep is an essential part of human health that helps regulate the body’s systems and update the brain. The real question is are you getting enough? If you skimp on sleep you’re not alone. While it’s recommended that adults receive 7-9 hours of sleep every night, only about 60% of Americans actually do. It’s easy to see why... When you’re hustling towards your goals and working to tick off ever growing to-do lists, it’s tempting to pull late nighters and clock up extra hours. This habit may give you a short-term win, but it could harm you long-term. Sleep deficiency is a real problem that affects your performance, your health, and your wellbeing. So if you regularly feel exhausted and know you’re almost running on empty, keep reading. In this article you’ll discover the dramatic impact on your life and wellbeing that you can expect when you catch a few more ZZZZZs. We’ll also share some top tips to help you get enough quality sleep - so you can show up as your best self day after day. 1. Improved heart health Your body uses sleep time to rest, repair, and recuperate - just one of the reasons why sufficient sleep is key. Quality sleep has also been linked to improved overall health, including a decreased risk of obesity, stroke, and diabetes. Its effect on heart health, however, can’t be overstated. Sleep deficiency has been linked to higher blood pressure and risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. For optimal heart health, it’s important to get the right amount of sleep for you. 2. Better productivity You can’t do your best work or be your best self if you’re struggling to concentrate and your mind’s a fog. But that’s what lack of sleep does… it negatively impacts your focus and concentration, which can decrease your work efficiency. Tiredness makes it hard to focus on a task or get into your deep work zone. If you can’t concentrate or focus you won’t finish tasks on time and that can knock your schedule out and force you to play catch-up. Tiredness also causes mental fatigue which can impede decision making and reduce your response times. Sleep rests your mind as well as your body. So get enough sleep to give you the mental fuel you need to keep living your life to the full. 3. More creativity Your ability to create has a big impact on your life. Switch on your creative muscles and you can solve bigger problems, create unique products, and explore the depths of your imagination. It’s how creativity as a skill can help you with your goals, your career, your business… in fact every part of your life. There’s proof that abstract problem-solving and reasoning skills are heightened after a good night’s sleep. In fact, creativity is often at its peak early in the morning, as close to REM sleep as possible. So don’t undermine your ability to be creative by starving yourself of sleep. In fact, sleep may actually help deliver the exact answer you’ve been looking for. Ever ‘slept’ on a problem only to wake up with the solution? With your subconscious free to roam free when you’re asleep, you never know what you’ll wake up with. 4. Boosted mood Inadequate sleep has been found to increase anxiety levels, feelings of laziness, and irritability. In fact, 45 percent of American adults report that they feel more stressed when they get less sleep. High-quality sleep can have restorative effects on an individual’s mood, making it easier to cope with change and new problems. This can make it easier to not only have a more positive outlook, but also produce higher-quality work and develop closer relationships. How to get better sleep Want to know how to sleep better and deeper and wake up more refreshed? Here are some top tips to help you do just that. - Reflect on your day. After a busy, full on day take 5 minutes to reflect on what’s happened and how it’s made you feel. Remember to celebrate your wins and get clear on the lessons you’ve learned. Closing out your day with a gratitude practice is another powerful way to shift your focus from negative to positive thoughts and get your head space in the right place to relax. - Unwind. Stress can be a major sleep inhibitor. Take control of your worries and find your preferred method of self-care. Meditating, reading, or journaling your thoughts can all help your mind and body relax and get ready for sleep. - Get comfortable. Lack of comfort is one of the most commonly reported sleep disruptions for adults. If you struggle sleeping through the night, keep your bedroom cool, invest in a better mattress and use blankets that will keep you cozy, but not too hot. - Keep your room quiet. Whether you have a snoring partner, noisy neighbors, or a nocturnal pet, it’s crucial that your sleeping environment is noise-free. Use some comfortable earplugs or a white noise machine to cancel out any distractions that might prevent you from falling asleep. - Establish a sleep routine. It’s important to keep your sleep cycles on a consistent pattern. Try not to stay up late or sleep in too much over the weekends, and definitely don’t rely on the end of the workweek to catch up on your ZZZ’s. Missing an hour or two every now and then can have a surprising impact on your body’s rest and sleep cycle.   While these recommendations are important, it’s crucial to adapt them to your own sleep needs. So how are you going to cater these tips to lead a healthier life? Or, what steps have you already taken to get more restful sleep?

Getting sick is one of the biggest productivity killers out there. It’s one thing when you lack motivation the complete your goals — there are strategies you can use to overcome that. But the only thing you can do when you’re sick is to seek medical treatment and wait for your health and wellness to improve. In the process, you can potentially lose days of productive time that you can never get back. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that’s what we’re going to cover in this article: how to boost your health and wellness so that you keep from getting sick in the first place. We’ll adopt a holistic approach to health and wellness, considering mental health as well as physical. As anyone who’s struggled with mental illness knows, it’s just as serious and debilitating as any physical illness. 1. Keep Your Immune System Strong Keeping your immune system healthy will protect you from common illnesses like the flu and the common cold. We recommend the following to keep your body’s natural defenses at their best: Get Plenty of Sleep Sleep isn’t just crucial for feeling alert and being able to perform at your best. It’s also when your body repairs and strengthens itself for the day to come. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body doesn’t produce as many infection-fighting antibodies, leaving you vulnerable to viruses and increasing the amount of time it takes for you to recover if you do get sick. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that healthy adults get 7-9 hours of sleep per night. However, the amount that’s right for you will vary and is very personal. One person might feel well-rested after six hours, while another might need as many as 10 (particularly if performing high levels of physical activity). You should experiment to see how much you need to feel well-rested and aim for whatever that number is. You can even use your daily journal to track how the amount of sleep you get affects your health and productivity over time. Take Breaks to Reduce Stress Excessive stress can weaken your immune system, particularly over time. Therefore, it’s critical that you limit the amount of stress you’re under as much as possible, or at least find healthy ways to manage the stress you experience. One of the best ways to reduce stress is to give yourself a break. Instead of grinding away at a project for hours on end, step away from it every hour or so. The exercise is good for your body, of course, but the mental break will also do wonders for lowering your stress levels and giving you time to think through the project. Go Easy on the Antibacterial Products While we’re not going to tell you to stop washing your hands, there is a point at which you can be too concerned about germs, killing the good bacteria with the bad. That’s right — there is such a thing as “good” bacteria. These good bacteria live in and on our bodies, helping to crowd out harmful bacteria and maintain equilibrium. However, when you go overboard with hand sanitizers or other antibacterial products, you can disrupt this delicate equilibrium. Therefore, we recommend using them only when you’ve been exposed to something that harbors harmful bacteria, such as live animals or waiting room chairs at the doctor’s office. 2. Schedule Annual Checkups How you feel is an accurate barometer for your personal health, but you should also consult with a healthcare professional to make sure you don’t have any undiagnosed health issues without obvious symptoms. An annual checkup is the best way to do this. Find a doctor with whom you can be open about the current state of your health and lifestyle. Make sure you feel comfortable asking honest questions about your health. Going to the doctor isn’t fun, but doing it once a year can help you avoid more serious medical conditions that could impact your productivity over the longer term. 3. Take Mental Health Seriously We’ve been talking a lot so far about stereotypical “physical” illnesses, but mental illnesses deserve just as much attention. Depression, for example, can make it harder to work than many physical illnesses, and it can go on for much longer. Therefore, it’s crucial that you view your mental and behavioral health with the same priority as your physical health. If you are struggling with a mental health concern, then you should seek out counseling services or another mental health professional to advise you on treatment options. 4. Consult Reliable Sources for Health Information Since health is such a major concern for everyone alive, the amount of health information is vast, especially online. While more information might seem like a positive thing, the reality is that the overproduction of health-related online content can make it difficult to separate the accurate information from the inaccurate and pseudoscientific. To be sure that you’re getting the best information possible, we recommend that you only consult reliable public health resources. Here are some of the best: Mayo Clinic — Mayo Clinic is a network of nonprofit hospitals that specialize in treating rare medical conditions. Their website contains a vast breadth of reliable health information on both health and wellness. CDC — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have accurate, up-to-date information on a variety of health conditions, including symptoms and tips for prevention. MentalHealth.gov — A mental health resource from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with information on symptoms of common mental health conditions and how to get free help. 5. Seek Professional Medical Care When Necessary Even when you’re doing your best to stay well, illnesses and injuries are a part of life. In these cases, you should seek out professional medical care as soon as you can. Don’t let a minor illness get out of hand — better to consult a doctor about it early on than to have it spiral into something that takes you out of work for weeks. We know it can be tempting to put off going to the doctor, especially if you’re an entrepreneur paying for your own insurance coverage (which could come with higher deductibles). But your health is of immeasurable value — don’t neglect it because of financial concerns. Preserve Your Health and Wellness We hope that the strategies we’ve discussed in this article will help you maintain the health and wellness that are so essential to your professional success and overall quality of life. As we mentioned in the previous section, you should always consult a medical professional when it comes to health concerns — take online resources (like this article) as a general guide only. Wishing you good health!

As an entrepreneur, setting goals is what you do. You set goals to grow your revenue by a certain percentage each quarter, goals to meet with a certain number of potential investors each week or goals to write a certain number of words per day. But while you’re busy setting goals for your business, are you neglecting setting goals for yourself in the process? Are you letting your business goals crowd out personal development? It’s easy to get so focused on your professional and business goals that you forget the importance of personal goal setting. However, setting goals for yourself is essential, keeping you fresh as both an entrepreneur and a person. Let’s have a look at why. Personal vs. Professional Goals What makes a goal “personal” as opposed to professional or business? The most obvious answer is that a personal goal is one that doesn’t relate to your work, but this isn’t always the case. After all, you could be a freelance writer with a personal goal of publishing a memoir. Both technically relate to your profession of writing, but the memoir goal is decidedly in the personal camp. Therefore, we prefer to define personal goals as those that you pursue solely for the enjoyment and fulfillment they provide. In general, they don’t directly relate to making money, or at least don’t have making money as their primary end. Continuing with the above example, you might make a bit of money from selling a book you self-published on the side, but that money is secondary to the joy you get from putting your story out into the world. Personal goals don’t have to be related to artistic output. They can involve anything you do for personal fulfillment, such as reaching a particular fitness benchmark, learning a new skill or growing as a person. With that definition out of the way, here are some essential benefits of setting personal goals. 1. Increased Self-Confidence When you set goals and achieve them, it provides a major boost to your self-confidence. This increase in self-confidence will improve all areas of your life, from your relationships with people to your success in business to your overall sense of well-being. And your personal goals provide the perfect low-stakes sandbox to boost your self-confidence through “small wins” on the goals that you already find meaningful enough to pursue in your free time. 2. Pushing Your Comfort Zone Along with boosting your self-confidence, setting personal goals also provides an opportunity to expand your comfort zone without the risk of serious consequences for failing to meet your goals. If you make the wrong decision in your business, it can jeopardize your livelihood. Therefore, you’re less likely to take risks in business, even when it’s ultimately to your advantage to do so. With personal goals, in contrast, taking risks and going beyond what’s comfortable are far less potentially disastrous. Yet, you still get the practice taking risks in a safe environment, ultimately making you more comfortable with pushing your comfort zone in higher stakes areas such as growing and developing your business. 3. Personal Development Setting goals for yourself offers an opportunity for a type of self-improvement that you don’t get in your professional goals. Sure, learning to get better at sales or sharpening your knowledge of a particular software provide a kind of improvement experience that can be rewarding. But these goals do little in the long run to make you a better person. With personal goals, in contrast, you have the opportunity to improve yourself in a way that lasts beyond your specific job, company or career. This process offers a chance to remember that life is about more than just spreadsheets and dollar signs — it’s also about figuring out who you want to be. How to Set Personal Goals Now that you understand what personal goals are and what benefits come from setting them, let’s take a look at how to set personal goals that you’ll be able to achieve. 1. Pick Meaningful Goals If you’re going to devote the time to achieving a personal goal, it ought to be one that means something to you. This is a decision that only you can make, and you shouldn’t base it on the goals that other people say are worth achieving. Just think about the number of people who resolve to run a marathon each New Year, only to stop in frustration after a couple weeks of the pain that comes from working toward a goal they didn’t care about to begin with. It’s far better to pick a goal that matters to you — you’ll enjoy the process of reaching it and be far more likely to succeed. 2. Balance Long-Term and Short-Term Goals While there are no rules for setting personal goals, we recommend striking the right balance of short term and long term. This way, you have big things to work towards while still benefiting from the motivation that comes from achieving things in the short term. For example, you might have a long-term vision of running a marathon, but that’s far too big a goal to help you maintain the motivation to meet it. To balance this, you can break that down into smaller goals that form a marathon training plan that consists of running a certain number of miles per week. This way, you’re far more likely to accomplish your goal. 3. Set SMART Goals The SMART goal-setting framework is a powerful tool that you can use to set yourself up for success to achieve any goal you want. It consists of setting goals that meet the following criteria:• Specific• Measurable• Achievable• Relevant• Time-bound With this (or any similar framework) in place, you’ll be able to increase your chances of achieving your goals to a far greater degree than if you start without a plan. For a full exploration of SMART goal setting, check out our SMART goals guide. Keep It Personal We hope you now see the power and importance of personal goals as a way to bring challenge and richness into your life. Not only will you see benefits in the professional sphere from increased self-confidence, but you’ll also benefit as a person overall, using personal goals to shape a life full of meaning and fulfillment.