Understanding Short-Term, Medium-Term, And Long-Term Goals

While working in an organization to achieve accountability, you set goals. You need to set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound goals. However, did you know there are several types of goals you can set based on time-boundedness?

You have short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals based on time-boundedness. Are you confused as to what these are? Don’t worry; this blog will tell you these goals and give you tips on setting and achieving them. Further, you’ll also know what to do if you fail to achieve goals.

So, read on to know everything about the type of goals and how to set and achieve them.

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Short-Term, Medium-Term, and Long-Term Goals

The meaning of short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals is quite simple. Essentially, short-term goals are those that you’ll want to achieve in the near future. They are goals that you achieve within 30 days.

Medium-term goals take a little longer to achieve. These may be your quarterly goals. Generally, Medium-term goals are achieved within 90 days.

In contrast, long-term goals are those that need to be achieved in the further future. These are goals that require planning and time. They usually take 12 months or more to achieve. They often form part of the big picture goals.

Short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals are time-bound and categorized explicitly according to how long each might take. Each of these types of goals requires significant planning and a to-do list.

How To Set and Achieve These Goals

When you set short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals, there are some questions that you must ask yourself. You must ask yourself where you are now, where do you want to be, what’s stopping you, how you want to get there, and why is it an absolute must.

While setting these goals, you must think about the outcome you want and plan backwards to think of your steps. Thinking of what you want to achieve and planning the steps necessary along with adding the dates will make it easier to set and achieve these goals.

It’s crucial to set dates for these goals, too, so that you create milestones and set the importance of the goals. It helps you set your priorities and lets you know when you can celebrate your achievements.

What To Do If You Fail To Achieve These Goals?

Often, you will fail to achieve your goals. It is inevitable when you’re trying to achieve something important to you.

When you set too easy goals that you can achieve too easily, you are probably setting yourself up for failure in your business. This is because these goals are an ego massage and don’t help your business in the long term. Your business cannot grow if you set only short-term goals. You need long-term goals too.

It’s important to note that even if you fail in achieving your goals, you mustn’t be too hard on yourself. Merely resolve to be determined, resilient, optimistic, and persistent. The quote-“ try till you succeed” is the mantra to achieving your goals.

You might feel the following when you fail to achieve your goals:

You’ll probably feel demotivated and upset
You’ll start trying to set easy and achievable goals
You’ll stave off setting big goals to avoid failure
You might overanalyze what went wrong
You start losing faith in yourself and feel like a failure

However, while these genuine human emotions, it’s best not to mull over the failures. Instead, you must try to see if you can change how you plan or act on your goals. This will help make your goals more meaningful and challenging.

You merely need to develop a positive mindset and strive towards achieving your goals perseveringly. You should understand and learn from your mistakes and be on your way to achieving your goals.

Setting long-term goals that include mammoth targets might be scary, but it shows character, resolve and the determination to succeed in the organization. So, set it and work actively and positively towards achieving the goal. If you fail, retrace your steps, and change the way you tackle your goal.

Wrapping Up

Setting short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals are easy so long as you follow the SMART model. While it may be easy to achieve short-term goals, it’s necessary to set long-term goals as well to ensure your organization’s success.

Suppose you have difficulty in setting, achieving and figuring out how to avoid failure. You might want to consult an accountability coach from TickThoseBoxes. They will help you navigate through these goals and mentor you accordingly.