Why it is important to set up short-term and long-term goals? What benefits can we have by setting short-term and long-term goals? How we can set up these goals? What we should focus on while setting up a plan? These are the questions I would like to deal with in this article.
By reading through this post, besides the answers to the above-mentioned questions, you can learn some goal examples that might give you an idea of where to start and how to proceed towards success. Then, let’s start…
Foreword
Homosapiens are always searching for something that fulfills their sense of achievement and comes from overcoming a flaw or attaining an objective. The feeling of success is always on top for a person who lives by the rules.
Discipline and planning are the two main factors that help you reach the final destination you set for your career, personal, and social life. Understanding your aim and how your goals will help get you there molds individual efforts and points all team members in the same direction.
Now there are two terms you have heard all the time related to goals achievement long-term and short-term. There is a fundamental difference between the two terms that will be defined further.
Know the Difference between Long-Term and Short-Term Goals First
Goals that can occur fast are called short-term goals. Goals that take relatively longer to complete are called long-term goals.
An objective that you want to get in the near future very shortly. A short-term goal is set to accomplish soon, like today, this week, this month, or even this year. A goal that you can achieve in 12 months or less is a short-term goal.
Examples include:
- Take a gym class;
- Buy a new computer system;
- Attend a party or ceremony.
A long-term goal is something you are committed to in the long run, like you want to do it further in the future. Long-term goals demand time and planning and preparation. When you set a goal that needs at least one year or more to achieve, you must have set a long-term goal.
Here is an example of long-term goals that can take several years to achieve:
- Achieving a degree of specialization in a field from college / University;
- Saving and investing for retirement plan;
- Establishing your own business.
Importance of Setting Short and Long-term Goals
It is crucial to identify your destination before you begin your journey. An unknown target will lead you nowhere; you will keep moving aimlessly and end up lost altogether. Similarly, you need to set long-term goals before you intend to accomplish something in life. All your efforts will go in vain without a solid understanding of where you want to see yourself.
When you set a long-term goal, you need to have many short-term goals to keep yourself on the road and not get lost. Your focus must stay intact until you achieve the ultimate goal. Whether you are in school, college, or a working professional, begetting short-term goals to attain a long-term goal is always beneficial.
For Career Development
- They help you estimate how far you have come and how long you still have to travel to reach your ultimate destination;
- To achieve long-term goals, you need to break them down into short-term goals;
- Short-term goals assist you to see your final goals explicitly and set precise guidelines to help you attain your long-term goals;
- Flops, hindrances, and refusal are obstacles you may face in your career while working towards your goals which can take a toll on your confidence. This is where setting goals becomes essential so that you do not lose your focus.
For Individual Development
- Once you complete your short-term goals, you can offer rewards for yourself to savor the success, making you keep moving towards your goals;
- The puzzle of individual success is not to keep moving only. You move according to a program to reach a remarkable destination in life;
- The plan is usually a blend of multiple short-term goals leading in the direction of an ultimate intention;
- Short-term goals come into play when it takes way too long to successfully achieve your long-term goals by reminding you of all the hard work you put in and keep you focused.
Benefits of Setting Short-term and Long-term Goals
One of the most understated yet effective tools for achieving individual and corporate success is short-term and long-term goals. Despite their thorough impact on career and personal progress towards professional and personal aspirations, few of us even know how to recognize and set one completely.
- You need to maintain locus on the path you have set out towards achieving your longer-term target. Thus, short-term goals help you stay focused;
- Distributing your longer-term ambitions into smaller targets helps you manage your overall objective’s steady and definite perception;
- Short-term aims give you regular updates on the process. At the same time, it draws your attention to any obstacles stopping you from reaching your long-term objective faster;
- People usually fall into the trap of procrastination When it comes to holding on to long-term goals. Setting specific and short deadlines is the only way to overcome this challenge successfully.
Ideas to Set Up These Goals
- First and foremost, plan everything out like you must know what you must achieve in the next 10 years in your life;
- Plan small objectives like small steps which will walk down the multiple long paths to your ultimate aim;
- Use a backward working strategy that means going back to what you can do right now and leaving the undoable task for later but do not omit it; just skip it for a while;
- Repeatedly remind yourself about your terminal goal and the short-term adjectives that are mandatory to achieve;
- Plan each day, week, month, and year that will route you to your final long-term goal;
- List down what you require to achieve your goals each month;
- Adjust your list as you achieve, skip or amend your plans according to your goals.
Prioritizing Your Goals
Whether short-term or long-term, prioritizing the goals refers to deciding what to do first and adjusting your goals. It means that you decide what is most relevant to you right now. Not to mention, all of your goals are critical, but you can not work on all of them at once.
- Choose what is most applicable, appropriate, and related right now;
- Focus mainly on one goal at a time;
- Once you become comfortable handling one, add other goals to the list;
- Do not act obstinate while seeing changes in technology, weather, life, and other critical aspects. Try to be adaptable and adjust your focus on goals as your life moves.
Connect Short-term Goals To Long-term Goals
Personal Goals
- Write a response log every day;
- Please, read at least one book per month ( I always suggest it in my blogs);
- Do try to make charity at least once a month;
- Take a personal improvement program and accomplish it in a couple of months.
These short-term personal goals will lead you to become a responsible, successful, empathetic, and sensible individual in the long run for good.
Financial Goals
- Make a contingency plan and save at least 10% of your income for that;
- Open a savings account;
- Try to reduce your overall debt by 50%;
- Plan and start spending on a budget;
- Monitor your daily expenditure and try to cut some unnecessary things.
These short-term financial goals will earn you a luxurious car or a home upgrade in the future.
Fitness Goals
- Join a recreational activity or join a gym and set a target of losing weight or being active;
- Discontinue carbonated drinks, caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine;
- Purchase some workout things if you can not join the gym;
- Start yoga practice for at least one day a week for 30 minutes;
- Avoid junk food for two weeks and try to continue for longer.
Following these shorter fitness goals will make you healthier and cleanse your body in the long run.
Career Goals
- Finish your degree on time. Moreover, do an online course related to your career;
- Attend conferences, business conventions, and engage yourself in brainstorming conversations in your work area;
- Log in to your workplace 10 minutes before the official timings;
- Organize your workstation and remove clutter often.
Fulfilling these short-term career goals will set your foot in a more commendatory position in the corporate world.
Achieving Goals Can Improve the Following
Self-Awareness: Your capabilities are gauged on the goals you achieve, and you know your inclinations in that form.
Self-Confidence: Achievement of objectives makes you more confident. The sense of achievement is vital, and you feel sure about setting further goals that you will fearlessly attain.
Success in life and its importance in our future: Your current self can achieve your set goals. Your future self is ready to become a successful person based on what you do today.
Summary
It is imperative to set an aim in your life; otherwise, it won’t be worth living a monotonous life if you do not desire to achieve something in your lifetime. There are several benefits of setting goals. Suppose goals are our vision of an ideal future that we hope to eventually reach for ourselves. In that case, we need to have a thorough understanding of and a refined focus on, short-term and long-term goals.
I hope this article will justify the eternal need to set goals in your life. I would love to hear how you guys managed to achieve your personal and professional goals. It will benefit everyone else on this site too.
Go ahead and share your tips and tricks to achieving goals in the comments.
