Brainstorming Methods for finding your Goals

There are a variety of brainstorming methods and purposes. You can brainstorm on almost anything. Your lifetime goals, your purpose in life, how to lose weight, how to get your kids to do their chores, or even where to go for dinner. At it's most basic, brainstorming is a free, uninhibited flowing of thoughts.

Here, I'm going to concentrate on brainstorming for life time goals because life time goals are the most important. All other goals should reflect on your life time goals. I'm going to help you define your life time goals using 3 distinct brainstorming methods..

Basic Brainstorming Methods

Brainstorming is the most popular method of discovering your goals for the purpose of goal setting. Whenever you brainstorm, keep writing no matter if you have to repeat yourself. Follow various branches to see where they lead. Then pick up a different branch and follow it. It may be a branch from an earlier thought. Just keep writing.

You can do basic brainstorming by just letting your mind drift, writing down the many different thoughts that drift through. Write them all down. Everyone of them. Write them down without judgement. After while go back over what you have written and brainstorm again on some of the more promising areas.

Then you go over all the different thoughts that you wrote down and cross out the obvious losers. But look for trends. Thoughts that are similar in so way. Combine them to come up with a short but well defined list.

3 questions - Brainstorming Method for finding you life goals

1) My life time goals

At the top of the page write 'My life time goals'. Set the timer for 5 minutes. Now, starting writing and don't stop. Repeat things. Go off on tangents. But keep writing until the 5 minutes are up. Write everything that comes to mind without editing.
Include such off the wall stuff as 'have an orgy', 'win an academy award', 'visit every professional ball park in the world', 'climb Mount Everest', 'date a Playboy Bunny', 'learn to ballroom dance'. Or more common 'sail around the world', 'get married', 'earn $1,000,000 in a year', 'buy a Ferrari', 'be CEO of a major corporation', 'own a small family business', 'have a vacation home on each continent', 'become a successful artist'.

Now spend another 5 minutes reviewing and expanding this list.

2) Where I want to be in 5 years

Title another sheet of paper 'Where I want to be in 5 years'. Brainstorm 5 year goals for 3 minutes and review for 3 minutes. Use the same brainstorming method as above. Writing everything that comes to mind, whether reasonable or wild.

This last one can really be an eye opener to discover your goals!

3) IF I knew I would be struck by lightning 6 months

Title a third sheet 'IF I knew I would be struck by lightning 6 months from now I would ....'. Brainstorm on this for 3 minutes. Assume your health remains the same, that everything about your death is taken care of and that money is no problem.
How would you spend your time? Would you spend every possible minute with your family? Would you visit the major religious leaders? Would you volunteer to help the poor? Would you party 'til you drop? Would you plant as many trees as you could? Would you continue working because you love your work? Would you take that vacation you always dreamed of?

The sticky note Brainstorming Method

Get a large pad of sticky (post-it) notes. Let your thoughts flow as in basic brainstorming. Write these thoughts down on the sticky notes. One thought per note.

When you're done, stick them all up on a wall, a bulletin board or a piece of wood. Anything when they can all be visible at once. Start grouping similar thoughts together. Of course, throwing out the absolutely outrageous.

Refine what's left.

Doing separate brainstorming sessions on the different areas of life, health/physical, family, career, financial, and spiritual will help you discover your goals in a wide variety of areas.

Serial Brainstorming Method

You could also brainstorm on your lifes purpose or mission statement. In this variation you put at the top of your page "What is my lifes' true purpose?" and brainstorm the answer until what you write fills you up with emotions that beg you for action. This can take 15 minutes or several sessions over several days. I credit this brainstorming method to Steve Pavlina.

Here's some excerpts from my sessions to give you some brainstorming examples:

1. To help others grow.
2. to help people make better choices.
3. to help others grow to a better life.
4. to help other recognize their choices.
5. to help others find their way to a happier life.
.
.
11. To improve my life and the lives of others through ever expanding knowledge and happiness.
.
.
43. to improve myself and my existence and to teach others to do the same.
.
.
55. using the knowledge gained from my personal growth to help others to grow and improve their lives and joy.
.
.
. 58. to purposely seek out, explore and test thoughts and activities in order to grow, improve and expand my joy, my character, my life, my essence. To use the knowledge gained to help others to grow, improve and expand their joy, their life, their essence.

It took me 3, one hour sessions to come up with my life purpose statement of "To Live on Purpose with Joy and Scholarship. Ever Improving My Self, My Life, My World". I have since added the mission statement "To help others break through barriers to their personal growth and become the best they can."

Brainstorming obviously gives you more goals than you can ever do, and many that you wouldn't want to devote the time to achieve. So after all this brainstorming, you must cull the lists down to goals you really want to achieve and are willing to work toward. If you aren't willing to put some time and effort toward it, it's not a goal you are really interested in.

Conclusion

I believe you should use all of the above brainstorming methods and other methods to refine your life goals. Each method gives you a different respective on what you want in life.

Do you have a favorite Brainstorming Technique?

I am sure there are many other brainstorming techniques. What is yours?

Move onto Question and Answer life review then Visualization to refine your goals.