Why is setting personal goals for 2023 or any year so important? Good personal goals not only drive personal growth, but also remind you where to place your focus and motivate you throughout the year. It’s definitely worth developing a list of goals to set for yourself.
If you’re unsure where to start, this article is packed with 2023 goal ideas and suggestions of personal goals. They will help you settle on new year resolutions and set intentions for 2023. As a bonus there’s a free printable and goals worksheet at the end to go along with the list.
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Personal Goals for 2023
Personal Goals can include many different categories like personal growth in your 20s or 30s, personal goals for a Christian, and new year resolution ideas for work.
A new year is the perfect time to turn the page and look ahead. So, no matter what your personal goals for 2022 were, keep your focus on the road ahead instead of whatever you’ve left behind.
The 20 personal goals below are split into 2 categories: personal growth in your 20s and general goals for the future. All of these make for great new year’s resolutions and intentions for 2023, too!
1 – Learn Something New
Is there something that you’ve always wanted to do or wished you could do like play the piano, do a handstand, or crochet? Make that one of your personal goals. You’ll learn a new skill and likely have a new hobby, too.
2 – Put More Value on Your Time
We are constantly interrupted by emails, text messages, and notifications. Little by little, this eats up into our time and leave only slivers for the people we love and the things we enjoy.
For a week, track your activities and habits each day. At the end of the week, consider:
- What things are unknowingly sucking up your time?
- What would you rather be doing?
- How can you be more intentional about your time?
Time is the only thing you can never get more of. Make sure you are spending your time on what matters most to you — friends, family, a hobby, a passion, giving, volunteering, etc.
3 – Stop a bad habit
Everyone has something they wish they stopped doing or did less. For example, one item on my 2023 goals list is to reduce the time spent on social media. Another example is stop overspending and learn to stick to a budget (these financial resources and tips will help with that).
4 – Giveback to the community
When setting your personal goals for 2023, think about ways you can give back to your community. For example, you can tutor kids after school, join the board of a charitable organization, or volunteer to feed the homeless.
The great thing about volunteering is that you can often use your skills or learn a new one. Two years ago, I was a content writer for the website of a non-profit organization. In 48 hours, my team and I built an awesome website for the organization.
5 – Prune your relationships
Who you spend your time with is up to you. However, your character is also partly determined by who you spend time with. Thus, it’s important to consider what relationships are spurring you on and which ones are holding you back.
It may be time for you to let go of negative relationships. On the flip side, by pruning your relationships, you can also invest more time and energy into those that are most important to you.
6 – Practice Self Care (More) Regularly
Essentially, practicing self care is making a habit of giving your body and your mind what it needs to function well. Some of that typically includes nourishment, destress, rest, and sleep.
Too often, we skip self-care because we can’t “find the time.” Make the time now, so you will have it available when you need it later.
Here are fun self care activities to try:
- Paint your nails and/or do a face mask while watching your favorite chick-flick
- Make a dance playlist and dance around your room to the songs
- Write in your journal or diary about anything and everything (these thoughtful reflection questions and journal prompts will get you started)
- Spend time in prayer and/or reading your Bible
7 – Travel
Travel is always a personal goal of mine! Visiting new places and experiencing different cultures teaches you so much about yourself and the world around you. I love that traveling gives you new perspectives and challenges you intellectually and mentally.
For you, travel may mean going to another country for the first time or visiting a national park nearby your home. Either way, travel is one of those personal goals for a woman that reminds you to be curious and explore.
8 – Read (More)
You can learn so much from reading, and it also keeps your mind sharp. What books have been on your shelf for a long time just gathering dust? Take them off the shelf for 2023 and start reading.
- Start Reading with my top fiction and Christian picks
- 20+ Entertaining Fiction Books that are a Must Read
- 40 Christian Books to Put on Your Reading List
- The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
- Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
- Stop Calling Me Beautiful: Finding Soul-Deep Strength in a Skin-Deep World by Phylicia Masonheminer
- Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely by Lysa TerKeurst
9 – Find Your Passion
From this list, I have one specific goal to set in your 20s: finding your passion.
- What makes your heart race?
- What do you enjoy doing?
- What would you like to study?
Make finding that personal passion your goal for your twenties, that you way you can spend your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, etc. doing it! If you’re way past your 20s or your passions have changed, you can still strive to discover a new passion.
10 – Have Fun & Check off Bucket List Items
A girl with goals is a girl who stops to smell the roses! While working is important, it isn’t everything. Be sure to enjoy the season of life where you are now instead of rushing to the next one.
Having a bucket list is a great way to ensure you’re not only focused on work. This list of goals in my 30 before 30 challenge has great 2023 goal ideas to complement your more serious, personal goals for 2023.
11 – Stress Less about What Doesn’t Matter
This is my chief personal goal for 2023—to stop stressing. Sometimes, my life is hectic and there is a lot to be stressed about. Other times, I stress myself out by trying to be perfect or be the best at something.
What I want to focus on instead is acknowledging my limitations and doing the best I can in a situation with where I’m at. Additionally, I want to view my failures and mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow instead of a full stop.
Now, we’ll move on to 2023 goal ideas for the future, starting with finances.
12 – Pay off Student Loans
Going to college or trade school is a great investment in your education and your skills. It teaches you about working hard, practicing discipline, and meeting deadlines. However, depending on where you attend school, it can be expensive.
Make a plan this year to pay off your student loans or put a huge dent in what you owe. This will free up cash later on and reduce the interest you have to pay.
13 – Pay off Credit Card and Consumer Debt
“Zero interest for 90 days.” “No payments until next year.” “Low introductory APR.” These types of advertisements make us take on more debt than we probably should.
Thanks to compounded interest, debt quickly multiplies. It can hurt your ability to buy a home or get a line of credit later on. That’s why paying off credit card and consumer debt is an important personal goal for 2023, especially as interest rates climb.
For help with paying off consumer debt, I recommend these finance resources for young professionals.
14 – Create and Stick to a Realistic Budget
A related personal goal for 2023 is creating a budget and sticking to it! Budgets help you plan financially for the year and the future. Be sure to track your income and expenses.
With a budget, you can also save regularly and have a rainy day fund set up for emergency expenses or once-in-a-lifetime opportunities (like your friend getting married in Peru).
15 – Rent an Apartment / Move out
Perhaps some of your personal goals for the year involve becoming more independent. Deciding when it’s time to move out of your parents house can be tricky. Having a stable job, creating a robust budget, and doing apartment research with a checklist should help you find an affordable place to call your own.
16 – Own a Home
Aside from renting an apartment, it may be more economically smart to purchase a home. While owning a home requires more work on your part, you will be earning equity as you pay your mortgage. If you’re settled on a location or know you’ll be somewhere long term, owning a home is a great personal goal for 2023.
17 – Save for Retirement
While retirement feels far away, it’s never too early to start saving. Thanks to compounded interest, your savings now will grow substantially over time. So, if you have some room in your paycheck, think about contributing a bit extra to your 401(K) or other retirement fund.
18 – Start investing
Investing is another way to make your money work for you. I mistakenly thought I had to have thousands of thousands of dollars to invest in stocks and mutual funds. However, that’s not the case.
Learning about investment will also teach you about the economy and serve you well when it comes to taking your retirement.
19 – Start your own Business
Starting a business was one of my personal goals for 2022. By the grace of God, I was able to incorporate. Creating a business is a formal way to protect your work or gigs.
Perhaps you’ve always wanted to sell baked goods, publish a book series, or teach people about finance in a blog. These are all great reasons to start a business.
20 – Pivot Your Career
Do you love your job? Or do you tolerate your job and secretly look for other jobs in your spare time? 2023 may be the year for you to take a leap of faith and pivot your career.
In this area, your personal goals for work may include:
- Finishing college or a certification program
- Starting college or a certification program
- Going back to school as a graduate student
- Applying for school programs
- Changing companies
- Applying for a new type of job
- Completing a professional development certification (like Project Management)
Which future goals in life are already on your list? You may also be surprised by what you’ve already accomplished or which personal goals are already in reach! For the other 2023 goal ideas, you can simply earmark them for the future.
Free Goals Worksheet and Printable for 2021:
Brainstorm your New Years resolutions and personal goals for a woman in her 20s with this simple goals worksheet. Download the latest rendition of the goals worksheet for free!
After completing the goals worksheet, do you need a planner to track your goals? These planners are great for tracking your goals, setting new year intentions, reflecting, and more.
Top Planner Picks for Work and Home:
- The Day Designer Flagship Daily Planner has beautiful cover designs and combines clean layouts and effective prompts to help you plan and schedule.
- The Ultimate LifePlanner from ErinCondren: A straightforward planner design with tabbed calendars and space for yearly, monthly, and weekly planning.
- Bloom Daily Planners – Weekly and Monthly Planner and Organizer with Tabs: This planner helps with goal setting and organization by giving you dedicated pages for setting your goals, creating a vision board, and other life coaching feature pages.
2023 Goal Ideas for a Promising Year
In 2023, I want to be a goals girl, a woman with goals! I want to be characterized and driven by purpose and goals. This doesn’t necessarily mean changing situations that are out of my control.
Instead, my intention is to find purpose within those situations. When I get knocked down, I want to keep my personal goals for 2023 as motivation to get back up again and continue.
How about you? What 2023 goal ideas do you have?
Leave me a comment below!
Don’t miss this! More posts in the Living & Adulting Category
- How to handle Adulthood with Flair and Faith
- 35 Thoughtful Reflection Questions and Journal Prompts
- 11 Rewarding Financial Tips for Young Professionals (+Finance Resources List)
- The 9 Best Adulting Blogs to help you with the Adulting Struggle
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Very informative article Kara. Being a woman this article is an inspiration for me as well as the other women. Through this, they can be motivated & be successful in their business. So they don’t have to depend on others.
Thank you, Reese. I find that having goals always keeps me motivated, as long as they are good goals and the right goals for me. 🙂