Long-Term and Short-Term Goals | MyMnCareers (2024)

Goals that can happen quickly are called short-term goals. Goals that take a long time to achieve are called long-term goals. Find out more about them.

A short-term goal is something you want to do in the near future. The near future can mean today, this week, this month, or even this year. A short-term goal is something you want to accomplish soon.

A short term goal is a goal you can achieve in 12 months or less. Examples include:

  • Take a class
  • Buy a new television
  • Write my resume

A long-term goal is something you want to do further in the future. Long-term goals require time and planning. They are not something you can do this week or even this year. Long-term goals usually take 12 months or more to achieve.

Here are examples of goals that can take several years to achieve:

  • Graduate from college
  • Save for retirement
  • Have my own business

Tips for Setting Long-Term Goals

  • Work backwards. Think about what you want to achieve then plan steps going back to what you can do right now.
  • Create a picture of where you want to be in life 10 years from now.
  • Think about what you need to do in five years, in one year, and in six months to get to your long-term goal.
  • Write down what you need to do each month to achieve your goals.
  • After each monthly goal is achieved, look at your goals and adjust them as needed.

Prioritizing Your Goals

How do you decide what to do first? How do you adjust your goals? This is called prioritizing.

Prioritizing means that you decide what is most important to you right now. All of your goals are important, but it's impossible to work on all of them at once.

  1. Choose what is most important right now.
  2. Focus mainly on that goal.
  3. Add additional goals as you become comfortable with your efforts.
  4. Being flexible is important. Change your focus on goals as your life changes.

Next Steps:

Long-Term and Short-Term Goals | MyMnCareers (2024)

FAQs

Long-Term and Short-Term Goals | MyMnCareers? ›

Tips for Setting Long-Term Goals

What are examples of short-term and long-term goals? ›

1. They should be SMART goals
Short-term goalLong-term goal
RealisticMake sure you're injury-free before startingCreate a budget to accommodate diverting funds into savings
TimelyRun the race in six monthsBuy the house in eight years
3 more rows
Aug 14, 2023

What are the long-term goals? ›

A long-term goal is something you want to accomplish in the future. Long-term goals require time and planning. They are not something you can do this week or even this year. Long-term goals are usually at least several years away.

What are your long term goals example answers? ›

Examples of long term career goals
  • Learn a new skill or technology.
  • Achieve a promotion.
  • Gain management experience.
  • Improve communication skills.
  • Improve leadership skills.
  • Develop a career plan.
  • Improve efficiency rates with completing projects.
  • Acquire a new job.
Mar 7, 2024

What are smart long-term goals? ›

Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives is a good way to plan the steps to meet the long-term goals in your grant. It helps you take your grant from ideas to action.

Which is the best example of a long-term goal? ›

Some examples of long-term personal goals include:
  • Having a positive mindset and developing self-confidence.
  • Fitness goals like adopting a healthy diet and sticking to a fitness routine.
  • Control and manage emotions.
  • Having a work-life balance and managing stress.
Oct 31, 2022

What is a long-term goal in years? ›

Difference between long and short-term goals

Short-term goals can take anywhere from a few days to a year to complete, whereas long-term goals can take five years or longer. Long-term goals are also often made up of short-term goals or smaller milestones that help you stay accountable and measure your progress.

How do I find my long-term goals? ›

What steps can you take to develop a long-term career plan in HR?
  1. Assess your strengths and interests.
  2. Define your career goals.
  3. Research the market and trends.
  4. Identify your gaps and opportunities.
  5. Update your resume and portfolio.
  6. Seek feedback and mentorship.
  7. Here's what else to consider.
Dec 10, 2023

What is a realistic short-term goal? ›

10 personal short-term goals examples:

Put 5% of your monthly income into a savings account starting next month. Eat meat-free dinners one day a week starting today. Read two books this month. Reduce screen time daily average by 15 minutes this week. Track spending for 30 days.

What is a long-term professional goal? ›

Long-term career goals are benchmarks that you strive to achieve in your professional life, taking anywhere from a few years to decades to complete. From earning a promotion to publishing a book, long-term goals come in many forms and serve as a guiding force for one's career path and trajectory.

What is a good answer for short term goals? ›

In the short term, I am keen to take on new challenges that can help me hone the skills that I have acquired in previous roles. I also hope to gain more leadership skills so that I can eventually grow into a supervisory position.

What are good things about long-term goals? ›

Long-term goals provide a sense of purpose and direction in life by:
  • Giving you a clear target to work towards.
  • Helping you prioritize your time and resources.
  • Providing motivation and inspiration during challenging times.
  • Allowing you to measure your progress and celebrate your achievements.

What are your long-term goals or aspirations? ›

Career aspiration example 2

I would like to manage international projects and globally dispersed teams. I have strong leadership skills and communication skills that I would like to continue developing. My long-term career goal is to become a program manager and manage several projects at the same time.”

What is an example of a long-term goal at work? ›

Long-Term Career Goal Examples

Landing a leadership position. Working within a specific company or industry. Finding a healthy work-life balance. Increasing earnings.

What is an example of a short term goal? ›

You want to achieve financial security in the near future. Your short-term financial goal is to pay off your credit card debt in a set amount of time. You want to quit social media within the next three months. Your short-term goal is to track your social media usage time and reduce it each week.

What are your short-term and long-term goals for students? ›

A short term goal is a goal that only takes a few days or weeks to achieve, for example, to complete daily homework assignments or to spend more time on daily homework assignments and complete better quality work. A long term goal takes several weeks, months, or even a full school semester of year, to achieve.

What is an example of a short term goal in business? ›

Examples of short-term business goals

Increase product prices by 3% over the next three months. Hire three new marketing employees over the next five months. Increase traffic on your company's blog. Implement monthly giveaways for customers on social media.

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