In November 2010, prompted by a suggestion in an email newsletter that I had subscribed to, I sat down and fleshed out the details behind the statement, “What my life will be like”. I’m recording this episode knowing that it will be published on 1 January 2024. As it’s a time of year when we often set aside some time for reflection and goal setting I thought it would be an ideal episode to share my experience of this exercise. Often when we talk about Goal Setting, we are encouraged to set SMART goals. That is goals or objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound or some slight variation of the SMART acronym. We are recommended to break them down into action steps and work out how we are going to measure our progress. Whilst this approach is well proven and effective, it can feel like a fair amount of work and be offputting. Sometimes so much so that we decide not to bother at all! Unlike that approach, I'd say this exercise was fun. I'd even use the word playful. I use that word very deliberately because play is a behaviour we often consign to our childhood. The exercise I am going to share with you allows or even requires us to use our imagination. Some of us find that easier than others. The exercise encourages us to create in our imaginations how we would like our life to be. When I did this, just over 13 years ago, I chose to focus on imagining my next career. My end in mind for sharing this story is to encourage you to have some fun, unleash your imagination, reflect on your values, strengths and interests and in some way, shape or form capture that stream of consciousness about how your life will be in a document.  That exercise will give you increased clarity and a sense of intentionality that will inform your decision making and actions. And I hope that you will return to this document after an appropriate period of time to find that much of what you have wished for you have been able to create for yourself. Thank you to our sponsors: ASKE Consulting Email: [email protected] Aquilae Email: [email protected] Episode Directory on Instagram @careerviewmirror  If you enjoy listening to our guests career stories, please follow CAREER-VIEW MIRROR in your podcast app.  Episode recorded on 29 December, 2023.