People who understand how to achieve goals realize that goal setting is a complex process. Understanding more about the process and different elements of goal setting can increase the probability of achieving goals. An important element is to choose the most appropriate timescale for the goal.
Short, Medium and Long Term Goals
Goals can be categorized as short, medium or long term, based on the estimated time it will take to achieve them. Typical timescales are as follows:
- Short: One to three months
- Medium: Three months to one year
- Long: One to three years
Some goals take longer than three years to achieve and it used to be that long term goals were categorized as five years plus.
Today, timescales are shorter even though these longer term goals still exist, so they are broken down into goals with one to three year timescales.
Long term goals can be analyzed to create the medium and short term goals required to achieve the longer term goals.
For example:
- A goal to own a bigger house is achievable within three years. This long term goal needs to be defined in more detail, stating how big the new house will be and where it is likely to be.
- This goal can then be broken down into a couple of medium terms goals, for example, to save a set amount of money towards the move within one year and also to visit a number of different areas and decide on the preferred location.
- Each of these medium term goals can also be broken down into a number of shorter term goals, for example: to set up a high interest savings account within one month; to decide how much to save each month; to deposit three months of saving; to make a list of five areas to visit, etc.
Breaking goals down in this way means that managing progress is easier and the impact of not achieving smaller steps or not taking action is more noticeable, helping to keep goal achievement on track.
Typically, there will always be more short term goals as the smaller, more detailed steps to be achieved are identified.
Maintain a Balance Between Long and Short Term Goals
It is important to maintain a balance between long and short terms goals. If all goals are long term, then it will be difficult to track progress towards the goals and the focus on the future may mean that less action is actually taken in the short term. If all goals are short term then the emphasis on action but without a clear direction, can lead to wasted effort and reduced effectiveness.
Goal setting is a complex process. Choosing the most appropriate timescale for a goal and ensuring that short and medium term goals contribute to longer term goals will increase the probability of achieving all goals.
Dawn Brewer - I have a portfolio career - as a writer, management consultant, instructor and coach - after twenty years in the corporate world. My ...
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