How to Set Short-Term Goals

When it comes to goal-setting, short-term goals are the most common types of goals. These goals are designed to be attainable in the next several months or year, and usually tie into a longer term goal or objective.

But successful goal-setting isn’t easy! There are some things you need to know to make your short-term goals stick. We’ll break it all down below.

What are Short-Term Goals?

Short-term goals are smaller goals (relatively speaking) that are usually set to be achieved within a 90-day window. Sometimes six months or a year, but generally anything longer than a year is a “long-term” goal.

“What can I accomplish right now? This week. This month.” This is the question answered by your short-term goals.

In a nutshell, short-term goals:

• Break up and support your bigger goals
• Give you a boost of motivation
• Create a sense of urgency
• Keep procrastination at bay
• Add a feeling of accomplishment when you reach them
• Allow you to reward yourself along the way to a longer-term goal

How Are Short-Term Goals Different from Long-Term Goals?

Your overall vision or objective usually drives long-term goals, and long-term goals usually dictate the short-term goals. Usually. There can be short-term goals that are so short that they don’t fit into a specific long-term goal (ex. “Leave the office on time every day this week in order to spend more time with my brother, who is visiting from Canada,” or “Eat at two new places this month.”) But those are the exceptions, not the rule.

Vision -> Long Term Goals -> Short Term Goals

Most short-term goals, such as “spend 30 min a day learning French” generally tie into a longer-term goal like “move to France to start our company’s European office” or “be able to converse freely in French two years from now.” Or the short-term goal may be “make five extra sales calls each day” with the longer-term goal of winning an annual incentive trip or being the office leader in sales two years from today. The short-term goal may be “go on at least three dates per month,” with the overall goal of being married in 3-5 years. You get the idea! Short-term goals revolve around the things you can control, such as your activity, actions, and daily habits on the way to a larger goal that may be more complex.

Let’s say you wanted to get healthier. That’s the vision. The long-term goal could be that you want to lose 20 pounds and firm up some not so firm places. That’s what you want to accomplish in a year. But how do you plan to do it? This is where short-term goals come into play. You plan to eat less sugar by limiting yourself to one dessert a week. You’re going to go for walks, do some squats and sit ups, and do curls three times a week. You also plan to start taking a daily vitamin. Those are a few short-term goals. They support the vision and the long-term goal.

Long-term goals are typically measured in years. They can be as short as one year, but as many as 10-15. With long-term goals, we recommend creating a vision board to help you physically see what you want to accomplish. You usually don’t need a full-blown vision board for short term goals, but we do recommend that you track your short-goals in writing and give yourself some kind of visual representation if it’s a serious goal, like a 90-day incentive trip or two-month plan to run a marathon. You may want to pin up a picture of Greece, or make a chart where you color in the amount of miles you’ve run along the way to your training goal to keep you motivated.

How to Set Short-Term Goals

OK, once you know what you want to accomplish, sit down and create a list of tasks that could serve as your short-term goals. Pick activities that will help create forward the momentum or positive change you want. Now, can you imagine yourself doing these things regularly? Make sure they won’t require an unattainable change to your normal routine, or you may fall off the wagon fast. Short-term goals should stretch you, but if a short-term goal is too big too fast (ex. “Get in shape by running 10 miles each day,”) it may need to be broken down into smaller pieces, like “Run one mile a day for a week. Then upgrade to two miles per day.”

It’s also wise to incorporate the SMART system when setting your goals. Make sure your short-term goals are:

1. Specific – Define your goal clearly. What you want to accomplish should be clearly understood by anyone who sees it.
2. Measurable – Lay out the details that will prove you’re making progress as you attack your goals.
3. Attainable – Make sure you can reasonably accomplish your goals.
4. Relevant – Why do you want to reach this goal? Make sure your goals fit with who you are and why you do what you do.
5. Timely – Assigning a deadline for your goal will motivate you and keep you accountable. We all need deadlines to perform at our best.

How to Track Your Goals

Short-term goals need to be tracked more regularly than long-term goals. It’s wise to keep an eye on them daily, weekly at most, even if the desired result was set for six months. Once you’ve put your goals in writing, make sure you have a log or journal to track your progress.

Set markers and milestones out ahead of you to show you if you’re on track or not. If you see that you’re on pace to reach your goals, it’s OK to celebrate little wins to help you stay motivated.

“Critical Success Factors” (CFS) are variables that will tie-into the reaching of your goal. These are activities you can easily track (like reading a chapter a night, doing a workout, sending out resumes, or making a specific number of sales calls) that will help you get closer to your goal.

A Few Examples of Short-Term Goals

Here’s a look at how short-term goals would support a desire you want to accomplish.

Overall Goal: Start having regular date nights.

Short-Term Goal: Call one of our favorite restaurants and reserve a table for two on Friday nights at 6:00, each week this month.

Overall Goal: Become a thought leader in my industry.

Short-Term Goal: Join a leading organization with the goal of plugging in and mentoring up-and-comers in my industry. Write an article within the next 90 days for a leading publication.

Overall Goal: Interview customers.

Short-Term Goal: Email customer service and get a list of customer names and contact info. Email or call one customer each day for a month.

Overall Goal: Start reading more.

Short-Term Goal: Read one a month for six months.

How to Stay Accountable to Your Short-Term Goals

This part is huge! We all need someone in our corner. It can be a coach you hire to help you with your career goals, or a friend who will speak truth to you. Encourage them to check in on your progress and reward you when goals are accomplished. They can also offer negative consequences when you fail to reach them. For sales, leadership or career goals, we recommend hiring a professional coach to help you outline your short-term, long-term and overall career goals for your business.

For help reaching your goals and outlining the path to the life you want, consider a personal coach from Southwestern Consulting. We can offer a free consultation or business action plan to explain how to get from where you are to where you want to be. Contact us for a free consultation today.