Too often I see clients who are too focused on today, on the minutiae, and what is in front of them. They often lose sight of the bigger picture issues that will affect the next year, decade, or even the rest of their lives. It is vital in your career and your personal life that you set clearly-defined short- and long-term goals, or else you may find yourself struggling with an unfulfilled sense of purpose and direction.
Firstly, what is a “short-term goal”? It is a goal or objective that you wish to accomplish within the near future. It can be something as soon as this very day, or as far out as the next year. If you can realistically achieve a goal in twelve months or so, consider it a short-term goal.
So with that in mind, how does one determine a “long-term goal”? It a something that you want to complete but will take more time than something short-term. Long-term goals will require time as well as careful planning.
Both short- and long-term goals can and will help you in your career progression as well as your personal life. A short-term goal will force you to consider what you can accomplish right away, such as talking to a teacher after a college class, applying for a job, balancing your checkbook, or shopping for some healthy groceries. These may seem like small accomplishments, even trivial and unimportant in some cases, but their fulfillment will lead to great things down the road. A long-term goal is even more important to a successful life and/or career. Often consisting of lots of short-term goals strung together, long-term goals force you to think about the far future, including necessary education and future careers. Becoming fluent in a second language, earning a college degree, or striving for a promotion at work are all examples of long-term goals.
Successful people set goals for the long- and short-term motivation. Having a clear idea of what you aim to achieve lets you focus more on necessary education and time management to get you there. An added benefit of setting defined goals is that you can track them as you move along and see your progress, giving you a sense of pride and achievement as you complete task after task. This will indefinitely lead to a rise in your self-confidence, lending you the power to achieve even more goals in the future.
To set some personal and career goals, you need to work in “levels”. The first and most important thing that you can do is to create a big picture of what you want to do or where you want to be in the far future. Try getting an idea of where you want to be in ten years to start off. Next, break down that long-term vision of yourself and identify the long-term goals that you need to achieve in order to get there (become proficient in a second language, get a college degree, get promoted, etc.). Then, break down those long-term goals into smaller goals, then break those down even farther until you have a planned-out series of short-term goals.
And lastly, keep in mind that your career goals are not the only important things in your life. Here are some ideas for goals you may wish to set for yourself along the way:
Financial: How much money do you want to be making?
Educational: What level of education do you want to achieve?
Family: Do you want to get married? Do you want kids?
Attitude: Do you have any negative personality traits that you want to get rid of?
Fitness: Do you want to be healthy? Are there any athletic abilities you want to gain?
Public Service/Philanthropy: Do you want to make your community a better place? Do you want to give back to an organization or cause whose mission you feel passionate about?
At DeSantis Trusted Advisors, short and long-term goal setting is a key element of our work with our clients as they focus on their own personal and professional growth and development.
