Importance of Having Short and Long Term Goals

Before you start your journey, you need to know the destination. If you don’t know where you want to reach you may either keep moving aimlessly or get lost altogether. Similarly, before you make a plan to achieve something in life, you need to set long term goals. Without the clear picture of where you want to see yourself, all your efforts will go in vain.

Now when you set a long-term goal, you must ensure that your focus stays intact until you achieve the ultimate goal. Therefore along with a long-term goal you need to have many short-term goals to keep yourself on track and not get lost. In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of having goals:

Importance of Having Short Term and Long Term Goals

Long terms goals are the goals you set for your future, and short-term goals are an integral part of the planning to achieve them.  Long term goals can’t be met in a matter of hours, days, or months. It takes years of dedication, hard work, and planning. Envisioning things you want to achieve in the future can be exciting, but practically executing the plan can be daunting. So, to create an effective strategy to achieve your long term goals, you set several short term goals.

Short terms goals act as a milestone in your journey to reach the long term goal of your life. They help you gauge how far you have come and how long you still have to travel to reach your ultimate destination.

Also, to achieve the long term goals, you need to break them down into short term goals. For instance, if you want a lavish car in future, you need to start saving small chunks of money every month to gather sufficient amount to buy that car.

When you don’t have short term goals, you lack a clear vision of what you want you to achieve. Short term goals help you see your ultimate goals clearly and sets specific guidelines to help you attain your long term goals.

Failures, discouragement, and rejection are some of the hurdles you may face while working towards your goals. Also, sometimes it takes way too long to successfully achieve your long term goals, which can take a toll on your confidence. This is where short term goals come into play. They keep reminding you the purpose of all the hard work you put in and keeps you focused.  If you have a long term goal comprising of valid short term goals, you can be assured of success. After completing your short term goals, you can set rewards for yourself to enjoy this success, and that will help you keep moving towards your goals.

The secret of success is not just to keep moving. The secret is to keep moving according to a plan to reach to a particular destination in life. The plan is often a combination of many short-term goals pointing in the direction of an ultimate goal. It doesn’t matter if you are in school, college or you are a working professional, having short term goals to attain a long term goal is always beneficial.