What are long-term goals?
Long-term goals are goals that can take you a long time to accomplish and short-term goals are goals that you can achieve in a short time. For instance, a short-term goal is something you want to achieve in the near future. The near future usually means less than a year. Examples of short-term goals include learning how to dance, taking a class, writing a resume, and reading a book.
A long-term goal is something you want to achieve at some point in the future. These goals require time and planning, and usually takes longer than a year to accomplish. Examples include graduating from college, and saving for retirement. Sometimes it takes many steps to complete a long-term goal. Your short-term goals can be the smaller steps you need to take to accomplish your long-term goals.
How do you achieve long-term goals?
If you want to set long-term goals for yourself, here are some suggestions to help you achieve them. Think of the outcome you want to accomplish, then plan the steps you need to achieve to get to where you want to be. For example, create a road map of where you want to be in life ten years from now. Have a think about the steps you have to complete to achieve your long-term goals. Break down the plan into things you need to do in the next five years, in one year and in six months. Write down systematically what you need to do to achieve your goal in one-month increments. After every month, evaluate your performance against your goals and adjust them as needed. Thus, achieving these short-term goals helps you reach your long-term goal.
Deciding how to adjust your goals and choosing what you need to do first is prioritization. Prioritizing means that you decide what it most important to you right now. You choose how you want to work your goals and what you want to accomplish first. Because it is impossible to work on all your goals at once, prioritizing is a powerful tool to focus your energy and accomplish your goals.
Here are tips on how to prioritize: decide what is most important to you right now; focus your attention and energy on that goal; build on that goal as you progress and become comfortable with your efforts; remain flexible; change your attention and adjust goals as your life changes.
About Sense of Purpose
Sense of purpose is the motivation that drives you toward a satisfying future. Hence, your sense of purpose helps you get the most of life and it helps you achieve what matters most to you. Most importantly, it feeds intrinsic motivation and it creates meaning from life. Purpose is our driver. Certainly, purpose is a fundamental component of a fulfilling life. Our purpose is to help you find yours.
Here are some additional resources that you might find helpful: