20 Smart Emotional Goal Examples to Find Wellness

When it comes to goal setting, it is most common for people to set goals that focus on finances and their physical health. But in recent years, emotional wellness goals have become very popular. This is especially true with the increased focus on strengthening mental health.

But what exactly is an emotional goal? What do emotional wellness goals look like in your life? And what can you do to reach your emotional goals? These 20 emotional goal examples will answer all of these questions while showing you how setting emotional goals can have a major impact on your personal growth.

What are Emotional Goals?

Before you start setting emotional goals, it is important for you to understand just what exactly an emotional goal is. Emotional goals are specific goals that you set for yourself to reach in order to improve your emotional wellness.

Setting a goal to prioritize your emotional health looks different for each and every one of us. We all face our own unique struggles and difficult situations. So it only makes sense for the way we improve our emotional wellbeing to be unique to ourselves.

For example, your emotional wellness goals may focus on managing stressful situations in a healthy way. Or you may choose to focus on improving your social skills to improve your self-confidence in social situations.

In general, it is always important to set measurable goals. But one of the things that makes emotional goals so challenging to reach is that they are harder to measure than other goals. For example, weight loss goals and financial goals are each easily measurable because we can use numbers to help us understand our progress.

Emotional goals require us to be able to first identify an area for personal growth within ourselves, then stay on track without really being able to ‘count’ the progress as it unfolds. While this makes emotional goals much harder to reach, it doesn’t mean that they are impossible goals!

Benefits of Setting Emotional Goals

Since our emotions govern much of how we think, feel, and react to life’s challenges, emotional goals are some of the most important ones that you can set for yourself.

Much like setting financial or physical health goals, there are many benefits of setting emotional goals. But instead of watching your bank account grow, or noticing your health improving, emotional goals have benefits that are not always visible. But, the benefits are arguably much more important and powerful for your overall life satisfaction.

People who set emotional goals see possibilities in the future, regardless of how bad things might seem in the present. Goal setting is like a road map. When we have an idea where we are heading, the path toward our destination seems much clearer. The same is true for people who choose to prioritize overcoming negative emotions or other achievable goals.

Setting emotional goals also leads to a higher self-esteem and self regulation. When you acknowledge that you are working on improving yourself, it is easier to gain confidence in yourself and take control of your emotions.

Other good things that come from setting emotional goals are having a sense of meaning and purpose in your life. Knowing that you are working toward something important to you personally can add value to each step that you take.

People who prioritize their own emotional development also stay accountable to themselves. This is important for anyone who battles people pleasing tendencies. When strong mental health is an important value, making positive changes feels more important than the emotions of others.

20 Emotional Goal Examples (and How to Reach Them)

The purpose of setting personal goals and finding emotional wellness is to improve your overall wellbeing and satisfaction with your life.

There isn’t one single common goal that you can just start working toward. So it is important to take the time to think of what your specific objectives are.

Reading emotional goal examples is the best way to inspire yourself to prioritize your emotional wellbeing in a healthy way! Let’s get into these 10 emotional goal examples now!

#1. Express Gratitude

Make it a smart goal to regularly express gratitude for good things in life. Developing a grateful heart will help you foster a more positive outlook and overall emotional well-being. If you struggle with gratitude, use our list of 50 gratitude list ideas to help make this one of your long-term goals!

#2. Manage Stress

Carrying too much stress in your life can have a serious impact on your emotional health and your physical health. Make it a goal of yours to develop good habits that help you managed your stress levels. Take deep breaths and practice mindfulness to handle stressful situations in a healthy way and support both your emotional and physical health. 

#3. Prioritize Healthy Relationships

Focus on building healthy relationships and identify the people in your life who improve your social-emotional well-being. Setting boundaries to manage negative emotions from toxic influences.

#4. Overcome the Fear of Failure

Change how you view failure by setting specific goals that turn mistakes into learning opportunities, fostering personal growth and reducing anxiety. When you are afraid of failing, you avoid taking risks. But, the right risks can be roads toward success and a happier life. 

Many people avoid taking risks and end up living their lives in the safety of their comfort zone. Your comfort zone feels safe, but your dreams and goals for your life don’t grow there.

#5. Discover Your Life’s Purpose

Create a long-term goal to align your life’s actions with your purpose. Pursue activities that give meaning and value to your days, enhancing your mental health. 

If you need help with this specific goal, check out our collection of the 20 best books for finding your purpose to help with your social emotional learning!

#6. Improve Your Communication Skills

Work on effective communication and social skills to improve your relationships. Good communication fosters strong relationships and emotional growth.

#7. Strive For Balance

Start taking small steps to live a life that prioritizes a sense of balance amongst all the areas of your life. Make it a goal to find balance between work, relationships, and emotional wellness. Avoid stressful situations that lead to burnout by maintaining balance in all areas of life.

#8. Developing Good Habits

Consider setting an emotional goal to be more disciplined with your habits. Cultivate good habits like regular physical activity, journaling, and mindfulness. These practices boost mental health and create positive changes in emotional well-being.

We love using habit trackers in our house to keep us accountable to good habits. Check out our hand-crafted printable habit tracker collection and start enjoying the benefits of good habits today!

#9. Start Journaling

Set a specific goal to journal daily. Writing helps process different emotions and manage negative emotions in a healthy way, leading to improved emotional clarity.

One of my favorite daily routines is writing in my mindfulness journal. I love using my favorite motivational quotes and repeating positive affirmations as verbal prompts to help guide my thinking.

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#10. Develop a More Positive Outlook on Life

Prioritize spending quality time with those who uplift you. This focus will improve your social-emotional goals and lead to better mental health and social connections. By surrounding yourself with positivity, you can foster more good days and manage negative things with a better perspective.

#11. Practice Emotional Regulation

Focus on managing your emotional reactions and staying calm in stressful situations. This is a key part of social-emotional goals and will reduce your stress levels while improving your emotional intelligence. Practicing problem-solving skills to make appropriate decisions will also help you navigate emotional challenges.

#12. Build a Support System

Set a goal to create a strong support system that includes your close friends, each important family member, and trusted service providers. This will play a crucial role in maintaining your new goals for your emotional health.

#13. Improve Social Interactions

Work on improving your social-emotional skills by enhancing your communication skills and body language during social interactions. This helps build positive relationships and fosters emotional stability. These are important life skills for your emotional development.

#14. Reduce Negative Self-Talk

Identify negative things like self-doubt and work on reducing them. Replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations that promote an encouraging and more positive outlook while contributing to your emotional health goals.

#15. Prioritize Self-Care

Create a goal to prioritize both your emotional and physical health by maintaining a balanced self-care routine. This can include physical activity, mindfulness, and mental relaxation. Smaller goals within your action plan will help you make progress.

#16. Manage Any Anger Issues

Set a specific objective to manage anger issues by using mindfulness techniques and understanding emotional triggers. Handling frustration in a healthy way will lead to more positive outcomes in your life and enhance your emotional wellbeing.

#17. Strengthen Emotional Awareness

Focus on increasing your emotional awareness by identifying emotional triggers and learning to respond in a healthy way.

#18. Establish Healthy Boundaries

Set new goals to establish boundaries with people or situations that negatively affect your mental health. Strong boundaries ensure that your social skills support healthy relationships and emotional well-being. These boundaries also prevent the negative things you experience in your life from escalating and impacting your emotional health.

#19. Focus on Positive Emotions

Make it a goal to focus on nurturing positive emotions like joy, gratitude, and contentment in your daily routine. This is one of the most important things you can do for your overall emotional state.

#20. Seek Additional Support

If needed, seek professional help or join small groups to better navigate stressful situations. You might also choose to seek the support of a family member or a trusted friend.

Using Emotional Goal Examples in Your Own Life

There are countless examples of emotional goals you can work toward to improve your emotional well-being, and you don’t need to wait for the start of a new year to begin! 

Setting social-emotional goals is a deeply personal process, so it’s important to take the time to reflect on what matters most to you. By choosing goals that align with your values, you can create a clear path toward better mental health and emotional wellness. Stay focused and motivated as you work toward these goals, and remember that the journey is just as important as the outcome.

For more ideas and inspiration, check out our list of individual goals examples!

Don’t forget to share this post with your friends and family on social media! If you know someone who could use some emotional goal examples, this could be just the post that they need!

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