The Mental Fitness Compass

Don’t Set Goals Until You’ve Done This

How is it possible to set new year’s goals and actually stick with them? 

We often set new year’s resolutions without taking a full view of our lives. We might be ultra-focused on our career, or our jogging times, setting up a business or renovating our house to really reflect on the degree of balance in our lives. 

It’s also common to set goals based on things we think we ‘should’ be doing, but aren’t really all that valuable to us. We focus on making money, when really spending time with our family is more important. But we forget. We also adopt other people’s values, and do what our friends or family think is right, ignoring our own deeper needs. When we do this for long enough, we burn out, lose our passion for life, and start to become resentful.

And sometimes, we forget the fundamentals. These are the foundations of a happy, energetic, successful, calm and fulfilling life. We often overlook what truly matters, like our health. 

There’s a popular metaphor online distinguishing the rubber balls from the glass balls in our lives. Rubber balls are the things that if we let slip, can be fairly easily picked up again with a little effort. The most obvious rubber ball is work. If you let it slip, well, there’s always another job at the very least.

Then there’s the glass balls. This includes our health. Our friends. Our family. Our spirit. When we let these drop, its extremely difficult to put them back together. But because its not easy to ‘measure’ how well we’re doing in these areas, we often let them slip. Or we tell ourselves that we’ll get to them ‘later’ - when the decks clear - which of course they never do. 

We all want to live fulfilling lives. But what happens is that we get busy, we get distracted, or we pursue things that sound worthwhile, but are actually taking us further away from fulfilment. 

As leadership author Steven Covey says: “there’s no point climbing the ladder of success if its leaning against the wrong wall.’ 

What is the Mental Fitness Compass?

That’s why we need a tool like the Mental Fitness Compass. Based on the well-known ‘Wheel of Life’ concept, it’s a tool that helps us reflect on and analyze the different aspects of living a healthy modern life. 

The Mental Fitness Compass invites you to pause, reflect, and in a structured way to think about the different aspects of your life and how your habits support those things or undermine them. 

Importantly - and this is something we often don’t think to do - it’s important to figure out if our goals align with one another. Whether they point in the same direction. Because there’s little alignment between late nights drinking and taking drugs when you’re trying to be an athlete. 

We call it the Compass because you use a tool to know which direction you’re going. In other words, what should we be aiming for to lead a good life. Or, what ingredients help us lead a great life, at least from our own perspective? 

The Mental Fitness Compass divides the different roles that most of us have in life into 12 categories. It helps you turn areas of strength into areas for growth and achievement, and helps you align weaker areas. 

The 12 Sections of the Mental Fitness Compass

The 12 areas of The Mental Fitness Compass are: 

1. Physical Health and Fitness - how is your body? Injuries, daily function, fitness and energy. We start here because this is the basics for everything else

2. Mental Fitness and Resilience - how clear, focused and engaged is your mind? How equipped do you feel to cope with your life’s ups and downs? Do you have the sense that you have some control to impact how you think, feel and act under pressure?

3. Home and Work Environment - do you like your home and where you spend time? Or is it cramped, cluttered or unwelcoming? This includes how you feel emotionally when you’re there

4. Money and Finances - Financial stress can be one of the biggest barriers to well-being. This area assesses your financial stability, habits, and mindset around money. Do you feel in control of your finances? Are you living within your means while still enjoying life? Do you feel you have enough for the future? 

5. Career and Business - Your work is a major part of your life—but does it energize you or drain you? This section evaluates job satisfaction, career growth, and whether your work aligns with your values and strengths.

6. Learning and Growth - Are you evolving as a person, or stuck in the past? Are you learning new things, skills and wisdom as you get older? 

7. Digital Wellbeing and Focus - Technology should serve you, not the other way around. This area looks at screen time, social media habits, and whether digital distractions are affecting your focus and relationships.

8. Fun and Hobbies - are you making time for active rest and things that refresh you and engage your senses

9. Intimate Relationships - this is about a relationship with your spouse - husband, wife, partner. 

10. Family, Friends and Team - Strong relationships are a pillar of Mental Fitness. This section looks at your support system—whether you feel connected, supported, and present in your relationships.

11. Belonging and Contribution - Feeling part of something bigger than yourself is key to long-term well-being. Do you feel a sense of community? Are you giving back in a way that feels meaningful?

12. Meaning and  Spirituality - A strong sense of purpose fuels motivation and resilience. Are you clear on what gives your life meaning? Do you wake up feeling inspired by what you do?

How to Use the Mental Fitness Compass

To use the Mental Fitness compass, simply follow this five step approach. I’d encourage you to print out the picture here, or, simply write it on a piece of paper or in your diary. This is a much more effective exercise when done on paper.

1. Complete the Assessment

Start by giving yourself a score between 0 and 10 for each of the 12 sections. Write it next to it. If you draw yourself a circle with the labels, you can draw a ‘spiderweb’ so you see visually where your strengths and opportunity areas lie. 

Be honest here. Don’t judge yourself, just write what comes to mind. 

You might also like to separately ask your spouse or a friend this number - what would they give you for that area. 

2. Highlight your strengths 

Then, visualize your scores on a circular diagram. Are certain areas significantly lower than others? Is your “compass” balanced, or are there clear gaps?

Notice your top 3 strengths (the highest numbers) and the lowest 3 numbers. Think about whether these match up with the things you worry about alot, or the things that you’re typically proud of in life?

3. Pre-imagine success in each area

Think about what a 9 or a 10 would look like for every area of the Compass. If that area was great, how would life feel and be different?

Notice that we’re starting with what’s working well. It’s easy in personal development to focus on weaknesses at the exclusion of everything else. 

But when we focus on strengths, we build momentum and confidence. 

Think about what it would be like to score a 9 or a 10 for each area.

4. Identify the most important gaps

Decide on the three most important areas - and turn these into goals. 

5. Make it a habit

Most importantly, decide on the process - the small meaning regular actions that will move you toward your goal.

For example. If you want to write more often on your website (like I do), instead of saying “Write more in 2026” it would be - produce 2x written pieces every week. And even better, I’d decide when I’m doing them. “Write for 3 hours first thing Monday and Tuesday morning.”

Or, for a common fitness goal, instead of “I need to get fit,” try: “I’ll go for a 20-minute walk three times a week.”

Track Your Progress and Review Regularly

The Mental Fitness Compass is a great tool to use annually. But it’s even more effective when you use it quarterly. That way, you get a chance to review what’s working and what is not. 

Quarterly is often enough to be able to make changes before a new year starts, and infrequent enough that you have time to build momentum.

In your calendar right now - set a reminder, or an appointment that runs for an hour - to review your Compass. 

As you move into 2026 (or another year if you’re reading this later), don’t set vague resolutions. Don’t just make resolutions based on what has been on your mind recently. 

Reflect on every area of your life. Keep growing with your strengths. Build on your areas of improvement with self-compassion (that just means don’t talk meanly to yourself). And then, when you’re setting goals, build systems. Routines. Daily actions. 

And that way, as you’re working toward your goal, you’re succeeding. And you don’t have to wait until next year to find out if you succeeded.