A few weeks ago, I was reflecting on my business and decided to try to capture what my goals across my life are as a means to keep myself focused on what really matters, even though there are lots of shiny things that want my attention (squirrel!)

(There literally is a squirrel; she lives in the oak tree behind my apartment and she is currently building a nest for the babies she’s expecting in August.)

Over the years, I’ve articulated my life goals in different ways. For a while I had my Three Most Important Things and that was a helpful guide to setting priorities. But over time, my goals have shifted, and now I have five of them.

So here’s the Fab Five. What I want to achieve in my life:

• To do good work
• To support my daughter
• To give myself time and space to create and acknowledge the value of creation
• To live by my rules of ethical and moral behavior
• To have the freedom and resources to  do these things

For me to be able have the time and space to create, I have to be careful about what I do for paying work, since that very commonly chews up all the time a person has available for anything work-related.

Without reliable paying work, though, it’s difficult to sustain a creative mindset; I get too worried about next month’s rent.

The creative work is vitally important! Yet, it’s all too easy to neglect.

Over the years I’ve gotten better at the balancing act, but it’s never easy, and sometimes one or the other element is emphasized for a time. I’m learning that that’s okay, too.

What are your life goals – whether The Three Most Important Things or The Fab Five (or something else)?

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Jennifer Lawler has been a writer-editor for more than twenty-five years and has published more than forty novels and nonfiction books. She is the founder of the online education company Club Ed LLC