Have you ever been to a leadership training or professional development session where you were asked to think about your life as a balance wheel?

Typically the trainer asks you to think about your social, spiritual, professional, physical, intellectual and financial goals and to plan for them so that your life will be balanced and meaningful.

But what about you’re philanthropic goals?

Using your skills and resources to serve others creates balance and meaning in life, so why is this often left off of the balance wheel?

Surely thinking through how we’d like to make a difference in our communities and the broader world should be considered, right?

The next time you step back and think about your life holistically, consider also creating philanthropic goals for yourself.

We’ve been thinking about dividing our individual philanthropic goals into those of time, voice and money.

How will you give your volunteer time to the community this year?

On what policy issue will you exercise your civic voice?

Where will you leverage your money‘s ability to make a difference either through your purchasing power or charitable donations?