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Have you ever set a goal that you wanted to achieve, but somehow years pass by and you realize that you never got around to it? Perhaps you started off highly motivated, but then bit by bit life just happened. You fell sick, got busy with work, your dog needed to go to the vet, and that shiny goal somehow got lost in the endless worries of life.
A long-term goal is something that requires time to achieve, usually at least a couple of years. It requires planning and commitment.
Long-term goals can be set in all areas of life.
- Health: I want to be able to run a 100-km marathon in 5 years.
- Finances: I want to have a savings account with $100k.
- Career: I want to be the CEO of my own company.
- Personal Development: I want to be fluent in Spanish.
<List title={"Here are some examples below."} items={[ "Health: I want to be able to run a 100-km marathon in 5 years.", "Finances: I want to have a savings account with $100k.", "Career: I want to be the CEO of my own company.", "Personal Development: I want to be fluent in Spanish.", ]} />
By following the science-based steps listed below, you will be able to actually achieve your long-term goals so that you can create the life you want.
Long-term goals require time, patience, and a lot of determination. Sometimes, it can get difficult to focus on your goals when life happens. Whether you need to focus on work or focus on studying, these 5 tips will help you stay on track with your long-term goals.
The easiest step to achieving your goals is to write them down. Yes, it’s that easy! Studies have shown that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them. So every morning, write down your goals. Describe them as vividly as possible as the amount of detail you include amplifies the chances of you achieving them.
When you have a long-term goal such as “graduate college with distinction” it can be difficult to focus on studying in the present moment. Hence, to help you focus on your goals, it’s important to break down your big goal into smaller goals.
Replace “graduate college with distinction after four years” with “Get an A in every test”.
You can break down that goal into even smaller actionable steps that you can take daily or weekly. For example, you might say:
- Study 30 minutes every day
- Revise each chapter every week
<List title={"Here are some examples below."} items={["Study 30 minutes every day", "Revise each chapter every week"]} />
Aim to write down 3–5 actionable steps that you can dedicate 30 minutes a day to.
Have you ever noticed that it’s easier to focus on work or make more productive decisions in the morning than towards the end of the day? This is because of something called decision-fatigue; as you make more decisions, your ability to make decisions deteriorates.
When you schedule your tasks, you plan in advance what you will do, thereby reducing the number of decisions you have to make. The best place to start is taking a look at the 3-5 action steps you created in the last step, and scheduling them into your calendar. Set a dedicated time for each step to ensure you stay on track towards your goals.
We all have dreams and goals we want to achieve. And I am here to tell you that you in fact CAN achieve them. You just need to get clear on your long-term goals, and then use the steps listed above to make them come into reality.