WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LONG TERM AND SHORT TERM LIFE GOALS

Having life goals is part of everyone’s life. It is where we see ourselves in near or distant
future. After all the struggles of life, it gives us hope that yes, we can make it. Obviously, when
we are talking about goals, we are talking about our future and that can be in the long term or
short term.

Long term goals, as the term itself suggests, involves the fact that where we see ourselves in
the longer period of time, let’s say ten years? A long term goal is usually a career-oriented goal
or involves family planning, which obviously doesn’t happen in months. Other long term goals
can include moving abroad, expansion of family business and so on. These goals usually need a
lot of time and in particular, planning. For example, an individual who just got done with high
school plans to do Ph.D. somewhere in future. That, for a thought, would require some planning
as to where should he/she do his/her bachelors and masters from, and also, in which particular
field.

If we talk about short term goals, they might be achieved in an hour, a day or maybe a few
weeks. These goals don’t consume much time nor do they need a lot of planning. Let’s say I
want to complete this particular report in the coming week? Or maybe I will go to visit my uncle
tomorrow. Yes, these are goals too. On the contrary, a short term goal can last for months too.
These goals are usually accomplished sooner rather than later and quite clearly, they increase our
satisfaction level as well.

If we talk about long term and short term goals simultaneously, they both are equally
important. One can say that they exist together. A long term goal requires patience, time and
taking small steps towards a particular thing. Succeeding in taking those small steps can be
considered as our short term goals. Both of these goals help us in increasing our satisfaction level
and have their advantages. For example, in order for an individual to achieve his/her Ph.D. in
few years would require him/her to clear the admission test, which takes place in two months.
Now then, it is quite easy to spot the long term and the short term goals in the mentioned
example.
 Overall, these two types of goals cannot be rated over one-another. As mentioned in the
previous paragraph, both are equally important and significant. One can differentiate between
them, but has to know that they are “goals” at the end of the day and exist together. Short terms
goals increase our satisfaction level by a small margin, but they exist in our daily life. Long term
goals usually have higher significance and increase our satisfaction levels by a huge margin, but
we achieve such goals once in a while, not frequently. Hence, their cumulative effect can be
considered to be the same.

REFERENCES

https://www.careerwise.mnscu.edu/mymncareers/english-learner/long-term-goal.html
https://www.careerwise.mnscu.edu/mymncareers/english-learner/short-term-goal.html

Keywords – Goals, Long-term, Short-term