In order to lead a meaningful life, setting goals is not only useful but can improve one’s ability and one can come out of his or her comfort zone from time to time. Achieving goals in a limited time period improves one’s overall personality. To achieve long term goals it’s very important to set and achieve short-term goals in a limited time period. This article is all about the setting a short term goal. How to pen down your short term goals, what are the steps to achieve short-term goals? Also, what is the major distinction between short term and long term goals? Description of the benefits of short term goals and their importance.
Setting a short term goal is an activity for self-improvement. The purpose is to set realistic objectives that one meet in a short period of time. Supervisors generally ask those under them to note down their short term goals/goals when reviewing their performance. A career coach can also make you fill out a worksheet that can be helpful in defining your goals. A short term goal is useful for achieving in the professional life or in the personal life. Well, these two often tend to intersect in the achieving of the goal.
Benefits Of Having Short-term Goals
There are several benefits of having short term goals:
- Comprehensive Guidance: You can visualize a short term goal as a helper in your career path. They serve the purpose of comprehensive checkpoints that help you achieve a much larger goal.
- Productive Behavior Patterns: These can be tasks that are repetitive and can be encouraging a productive change in your behavior.
- Positive Reinforcement: If you make consistent achievements, even though they are small, you will see your confidence boost and positively reinforced.
- Tangible Objectives: A short term goal is able to make use of an objective that is tangible and help you achieve meaningful results in the long run.
- Realistic Expectations: By setting a time frame, a short term goal is able to help to meet realistic expectations.
Short-term Vs Long-term Goal Setting
It is helpful to understand the distinction that exists between short term and long term goals. Both are designed to serve purposes that can be in contact with each other. If you are looking for a new job option, you will also have many goals related to it that you would want to achieve. A change in the career will involve a setting of different set of goals than simply sending your resume to different companies. Listed below are some of the main differences that exist between goal setting for the short term and the long term.
- Flexibility and Time Frame: The maximum time period set for a short term goal should be one year. A long term goal is useful for achieving in 5 or 10 years. A short term goal is also more flexible in how you achieve it because the method can be altered.
- Substantive Objectives: A goal that is not clearly defined and also does not have clear specific steps that need to be followed in order to achieve it usually works for a long term goal. Short term goals need to have a clearly defined objective and distinguished methods that you will use to achieve them. A short term goal plan is often used for achieving a long term goal.
- Expectations Of Achievement: Gene you are working on the set-up of your short term goal, you want to ensure that the expectations you are setting for yourself are reasonable. Aspirational goals are mostly left for long term goals and the expectation of achieving them can undergo changes.
Also Read: SMART Goals – Begin with the end in mind!
Setting Short-term Goals In 4 Steps
1. Thinking of areas where you want to achieve success
Before you can set a short term goal, you must think of what area in life you would like to achieve more in. Choose areas that you can set goals in and also identify steps to achieving them. These should also be the areas where you know you have the potential to grow more. The goal can be something universal such as public speaking or something that is specific to your career like learning to use a tool well.
While doing this, take into account all aspects of your life that you wish to be doing better in. You can work with broad categories from which you can then work on setting short term goals. Take into account both your professional as well as personal areas. This will help you identify numerous areas where you can achieve success and several that may overlap. If you become more organized, you can invariably become a more efficient employee. It can also help you be punctual, using the same organizational skills for better time management.
2. Identifying skills or traits you want to develop or improve
For each of the categories identified in the first step, list down skills or qualities that will be helpful in your development or in achieving the short term goal you have set. Choose concepts that you know enough to understand the impact it will have on your life. Also, understand the practical use of the qualities that you are looking to develop.
Better to think up numerous scenarios where you want to develop and what can be helpful. A goal can be to set further goals if you have a good understanding of how that is going to be beneficial. You can also set your short term goals so that they calibrate with time intervals, leading to achievements in a set time, and goals that rise regularly.
3. Prioritizing subjects by the time you need to progress
This means giving priority based on the amount of time you have to spend to have substantial benefits. A short term goal where you can see the benefits of achieving right away can prove to be a great motivator. But do not forget the amount of progress you have to achieve for the success to be actually tangible. The biggest priorities can coincide with your current employment so the change you want to bring to yourself or the environment should be positive.
You can invest 3 months of your time studying a graphic designer course, spending a set number of hours each week when you are free, developing a basic skill level to be able to apply your knowledge practically in the industry. If you use that time to learn animation software, the results can be hard to see. An objective that is abstract or feels unattainable for you, will be better suited as a long term goal.
4. Thinking of tasks that could comprise a short-term goal
After setting up a priority short term goal, it is time to think of tasks that can compromise the goal. You also want to focus on the activities that will push you forward with momentum and bring out positive changes. The activities you want to do in order to achieve your goal should fit into your daily routine and not disrupt it drastically. Moreover, changes in small incremental steps can help accomplishing the goal holistic way, while also improving your productivity.
Short term goals can involve activities that you do outside of your place of employment. If your goal is to achieve a reduction in work-related stress, you would like to make use of a comfortable place for it. This can be meditating at home or in a group, or even just including a self-care routine. Physical location is detrimental in determining what tasks you want to do to achieve your goal.
Also Read: Setting goals & achieving them – Where are you headed?
