How to Achieve Your Goals

To you, what is the major difference between setting short-term vs. long-term goals?

Long term goals are necessary to make sense of the everyday grind. Why are you doing these daily sometimes difficult tasks? We need a vision (and the feeling that accompanies that vision) for a life long plan. Short term goals are stepping stones to get there. We need those to make the plan manageable, but also to celebrate small successes! The feeling of success and accomplishment gives us the confidence boost and motivation to take the next step.

Do you think it is more effective to set short-term goals first?

I think you need to know why you have these short term goals in the first place. For example, why do you need to study for the physics exam? Or why do you need to go to the gym? If you don’t know how the short term goal leads to your big picture plan, you will struggle to achieve it.

Is there a time limit to short-term goals?

All goals need a time limit! You’ve probably heard that goals need to be SMART. For me, that means that they are very Specific, Measurable, Attractive, Realistic and Time related. Most of us need a deadline or we might never even get started. For tiny goals, you can even use a timer and create a game for yourself.

Should short-term goals be less important than long-term goals?

Not necessarily. It just depends on where you are in the journey of your life’s adventure. If your dissertation is due tomorrow then your long term goal has become a short term goal. I hope you’ve been working on it!

Why do you find setting goals beneficial to one’s development?

Identifying and setting a goal makes the accomplishment so much sweeter. The anticipation, the planning, the structures and strategies that you’ve used to succeed have more meaning. By learning from the process that led to your success, you can achieve even more success sooner and more easily.

Mind Coach NOLA is the leader in ADHD and Executive Function life coaching in New Orleans and the entire Louisiana area.