The same message repeats time after time. Teachers since early elementary school say, “Make goals for yourself, write them down, here’s how to accomplish them!” This mantra is often overwhelming. When it comes to making long term goals that can determine the course of your life, all that is given are extremely broad suggestions and recommendations on what to do. Why is there no detailed instruction book on how to make successful changes through setting goals? It is common knowledge that goals are beneficial, but why, and how?
When told to write goals for the future, many think about generic statements like “work hard, get good grades, and improve in sports.” We intend on accomplishing these in the future, but there is no end to these broad goals. Rather, create positive attainable goals that have a clear end idea so you know you have accomplished your goal. Creating short and long term goals can help benefit you in the far future based on how you decide to take action on them.
Goals are the ambition put into achieving a result. They typically span several years and take a number of set steps to officially reach the end goal. On the other hand, short term goals are the list of desired intentions aimed to be fulfilled in a shorter timeline. Majority of the time they are carried out in a few weeks to months. It is more likely to get done in the near future or anytime soon. Short term goals can be interpreted by when people want to complete a skill or task. Some examples include: acing a test, working out, and eating healthier. Some long term goals are: starting a business, buying a house, and attending college. These are long term goals because they are intended to be reached in a longer amount of time.
“Goals are the ambition put into achieving a result.”
Goals help visualize and shape the future. Grace Mcnamera shares that her goal was, “to go to Harvard Law and become the president to enable a good work ethic along with maintaining rigorous courses and a high GPA.” She mentions how she herself
had an easier time creating goals when she was younger than she does now because she had a much more creative mind and her whole life ahead of her. As a Junior, her current long term goal is to go to college at a research institute and further her athletic career. To achieve this, she plans on maintaining a 4.0 GPA and continuing taking higher level courses. As she’s grown, her goals have changed and taken a different direction based on her view of life. However, having those goals as a 5th grader encouraged her to make better decisions in her youth to get her to where she’s at today. As may others share the same opinion and grow out of certain goals and into new ones.
By creating goals for the future, many set themselves up for benefitting their well being, along with their future. It can be an overwhelming thought to sit down and focus on such a huge idea. It seems little, but in reality constructing these can alter mindsets to work and strive towards or for something. To create goals, start by thinking about what you hope to accomplish. Think about furthering certain relationships, academic choices, or career opportunities. Once someone finds something they feel strongly passionate about making a change in their life to achieve, they endure and pursue it.
