How to Set Short, Medium & Long-Term Goals
Goal setting is key to obtaining success in life. Setting goals provides you with a clear vision and expectation of where you are heading. Once you have the vision, your time and energy will be more focused, increasing your chances of reaching your goal. Most people who have attained a high level of success in their careers attribute their achievements to consistent goal setting.
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Instructions
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Start by writing down your long-term goals. Consider these as things you want to achieve in the distant future. Ask yourself where you would like to be in the next five, 10 or 20 years. The amount of time depends on your objective. Graduating college is a long-term goal that takes about four years to accomplish. There is no way to change the length of time it takes to achieve that goal. However, getting married and starting a family could be a long-term goal that could be 10 or 15 years down the road.
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Write down the things you need to accomplish in order to reach your long-term goals. These would be considered your medium-term goals and can be broken down yearly, monthly or even weekly. If your long-term goal is to buy a house in two years, your medium-term goal may be to save a certain amount of money each month.
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Break your medium-term goals down into short-term goals by assessing what needs to be done daily to achieve your medium and ultimately your long-term goal. If graduating from college with honors is your long-term goal and earning a 4.0 GPA each year is your medium-term goal, then you short-term goal might be to study for three hours each day.
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Tips & Warnings
Set realistic goals that are attainable.
Reward yourself when you reach a goal.
Avoid goals that are contingent upon factors outside your control. For example, you can control how long you study but you cannot control whether or not the teacher will give you an A.
References
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