The Best Kept Secret: Setting Short Term goals

Let’s talk short term goals.

Your plan to achieve your goals by the end of the year is not a waste. There are still plenty of days left in this year to accomplish some major goals. With less than 6 months left in this year, you just need to focus on short term goals or finishing out the long term goals that you planned to complete by 2022.

What are short term goals

Traditionally, short term goals are goals that you can complete in less than 12 months. For me, I consider short term goals to be the goals you plan to complete in 6 months or less. 12 months is a long time and there is nothing short about it. 6 months is more appropriate for a timeline of short term goals.

Short term goals are often overlooked because they are viewed more like an insignificant to-do list. While daily tasks can certainly fit the description for short term goals, true short term goals are more than just an item on a to-do list. So, continue creating your daily task list to keep your productive, but also make space for setting some short term goals. Don’t knock how powerful short term goals can be.

Long term goals can often be overwhelming, because of how long they take. While short term goals can give you a reason to celebrate sooner! You are depriving yourself of little moments of joy if you never set short terms goals. Who doesn’t love a reason to celebrate?

What is the difference between setting short-term and long-term goals?

The main difference between Short-term goals and long term goals is the length of time you set aside to achieve the goal. Long term goals are goals that you do not necessarily want to achieve soon. Long term goals should have a timeline of more than 6 months.

Another notable difference is that short-term goals are often narrower and task-oriented, while long term goals are broader and more vision-oriented. For example: if you have a short term goal of filing for your business LLC; your long term goal may be to make

Short-term goals, while not always easy, typically require less resources. For long term goals, a key reason why they take longer is due to the resources necessary. These resources include time, money, materials, etc.

Short-term goals don’t allow as much room for pivoting, which make a precise plan important. When you have less time to complete a goal, you have to be much more intentional about your plans since pivoting or making the wrong last-minute changes can end up steering you completely off track. As you plan short term goals, keep this in mind.

3 Tips for setting short-term goals effectively

1. Give short-term goals the same attention and commitment as long-term goals.

If short-term goals are treated like an afterthought, you are devaluing your efforts and setting yourself up to miss out on an opportunity to celebrate more achievements! Working on short term goals also helps you become more disciplined so that you will inevitably achieve your long term goals as well.

2. Create an action plan for short-terms goals, just as you would for long-term goals.

Since long-term goals are comprised of short-term goals, you should invest just as much effort to thoughtfully plan & carry out each short-term goal. This also leads to better results when working on your long-term goals. Your action plan should include the individual tasks, the time needed, the resources needed, and the desired results for each goal.

3. Be intentional when considering the amount of time, talent and resources needed so you do not mistakenly set a short-term goal that should be a long-term goal.

It may be easy for your ambitious nature to take over your planning and before you know it, you have 3-6month timelines on all the goals you want to achieve for the year. Be very careful of this. As you plan out your personal goals, be as realistic as possible about the amount of time you want to commit to each goal. There is nothing wrong with  

How to set better goals

If you struggle with figuring out what goals to set, it is really helpful to categorize your goals and determine what you want for each category. You can use this Goal Planning Worksheet to get started. Enter your details in this form to download your free Goal Planning Worksheet.

1 really important tip to consider when setting goals:

Don’t be fueled by comparison. When setting your short term and long term goals, make a true effort to focus on yourself and not what others around you are doing. Yes, we all can be inspired by others, but never let your goals be solely based on what the next person is doing. This is extremely important when planning for the length of time you will take to achieve a goal. You may need 6 months, while another individual may need 3 months. This doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. Base everything on your own time, resources, need, and efforts.

What are Examples of Short Term Goals

Remember, these are simply examples to give you an idea of what a short term goal is like. These are not goals you personally need to have. Keep in mind, short term goals are things you want to achieve in 6 months or less.

Here are 10 examples of short term goals:

1. Lose 10 pounds by Christmas.
2. Get promoted to Supervisor at work by January.
3. Register your business as an LLC by next month.
4. Take an overnight trip to 3 cities outside of where you live before the end of the year.
5. Journal every day for the next 30 days.
6. Complete an online personal development course by the end of October.
7. Save $1000 by the end of November.
8. Pay off your car loan by the end of the year
9. Go on a date night with your husband twice a month for the next 5 months
10. Get 100 new subscribers to your business email list by November

Those are all random, but very realistic short term goals. Notice they all included a time reference. This is part of goal setting 101; all goals must include a measurement of time. If you follow the SMART goal method, this is not news to you.

What is a SMART Goal?

The SMART goal method, as created by George T. Doran, is the best way to set your goals. Here is a breakdown of the acronym:

Specific: your goals should not be vague. From the examples, a vague example of a short term goal would be to lose weight. Well, how much weight do you actually want to lose?

Measurable: Your goals should be something you can actually measure. In essence, how will you know your goal is actually achieved? In the weight loss example, you will know your goal is achieved when the scale reads as whatever number you set out to achieve.

Assignable: For your personal goals, there may be others that need to be involved in the process. This is something you will outline in your goal action plan. You may achieve the overall goal, but maybe there is a certain task that another person will need to complete within that specific goal. In the example, of registering your business, you may decide to use a service to help you with the paperwork. The assignee for the task of filing the paperwork would then be the service provider.

Realistic: Your goals should be things you can actually achieve. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is important to note. Realistic and attainable are subjective and personal to you. Only your own beliefs matter when deciding if your goals are attainable or not. Remember to keep a realistic timeline in mind as well.

Time-related: For every goal, you have to specify when you want to achieve the results. Again, saying you want to lose weight is too vague. When you add a timeline to that goal, then you can really map out a better plan for how you will lose weight.

Setting Goals for yourself

I wish you the best in your goal setting and achievement. No matter the category (career, mental, relationships, etc), it is important to set both short term and long term goals. When you set goals, it gives you something to work towards and something to be proud of!  In case no one has told you lately, you deserve to live a great life and you are more than capable of achieving everything you have ever dreamed of achieving!

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