2 Turning Long-term Goals into Short-Term Goals
Once you have established your long-term goals, the next step is to break them down further into manageable steps. Wanting to graduate with an Honours degree with a graduating GPA of 75% within the next three years is a great long-term goal, but it can’t be achieved without achieving a series a short term goals along the way.
So, start where you want to be and work backwards to figure out all the steps you’ll need to take to get you there.
Just like with long-term goals, short-term goals are most useful to us if they are SMART. For example:
An Example
| If I want to achieve this…. | Get a 75% on my World Religion midterm |
| This is a good short-term goal to help me get there | Start a weekly study group by the third week of class |
| …but I’ll have to do this first | Introduce myself to two new people sitting near me next class |
When you are planning to break down your goals, ensure that they are realistic and achievable. Do not pick short-term goals that are very hard to achieve. Take step-by-step on how you would like to achieve your goals.
