Short, Medium and Long Term Goals

Long Term Goals = Ultimate Objective

It is easy to get overwhelmed when thinking about our long term goals. The truth is, you can't do anything about long term goals. You can only do something about short term and sometimes medium term goals. If I have a long term goal of $10,000 in the bank I can't just put $10,000 in the bank. I can however, achieve a short term goal of putting $50 in the bank this week. Many short term goals of $50 in the bank add up to my medium term goal of $1,000 in the bank and many medium term goals of $1,000 will add up to my long term goal of $10,000.

Know your long term goals but focus, and act on your short term goals.

Short term goals - A short term goal is one that can be completed quickly. It could be a goal to be achieved in the next 5 minutes, next day or week. Several short term goals add together to achieve a medium term goal. An example of a short term goal is to go for a run today or to read a page of my biology book.

Medium term goals - A medium term goal is one that takes a bit longer. It could be a goal to be achieved in the next 2 weeks, a month or perhaps 6 months. A medium term goal might be to run 10km. The only way to run 10km is to achieve several short term goals of running a shorter distance. A medium term study goal might be, to be able to explain the steps in mitosis.

Long term goals - A long term goal is one that takes quite a bit longer. It could be a goal to be achieved in the next 6 months, a year or perhaps 5, 10 or 20 years. A long term goal might be to run a marathon. The only way to run a marathon is to achieve several medium term goals such as running 10km, 15km, a half marathon, 30km and finally a full marathon. A long term study goal might be to gain TAFE or university entry or to achieve a degree or diploma.

Examples of S.M.A.R.T. Short, Medium and Long Term Goals

• Examples of short term goals:
  • Study - I will read chapter 2 of my chemistry text book at 5pm today.
  • Fitness - I will run 5km at 8am on Saturday morning.
  • Money - I will purchase a money box at Kmart this afternoon.

• Examples of medium term goals:
  • Study - I will achieve 70% or higher in my chemistry midterm exam.
  • Fitness - I will run in the Bridges Fun Run on April 4th.
  • Money - I will save $100 in my money box by my birthday.

• Examples of medium to long term goals:
  • Study - I will receive an A for chemistry this year.
  • Fitness - I will run the City to Surf fun run in August in under 60 minutes.
  • Money - I will save $300 in my money box by the end of the year.

• Examples of long term goals:
  • Study - I will study chemistry at Harvard in 2024.
  • Fitness - I will break the under 20's record of 38:12 in the City to Surf fun run before I turn 20.
  • Money - I will purchase a car for $10,000 in 2024.

• Examples of really long term goals:
  • Study - I be a professor of chemistry at Harvard by the time I am 35.
  • Fitness - I will break the open record of 36:04 in the City to Surf fun run before I turn 30.
  • Money - I will own my own house and have it paid off before I turn 45.

Activity

Write down a long term goal e.g. gain university entry.

Write down all the medium term goals you need to achieve before you can achieve that long term goal e.g. get 70% for the semester 1 biology exam, get 70% for the semester 2 biology exam, get 70% for the VCE/ATAR etc. biology exam.

For each medium term goal write down all the short term goals you can think of to achieve that medium term goal e.g. Read chapter 7 of my biology book, understand meiosis etc.

Commit to achieving your short term goals in a long term effort towards your long term goals.