5 Simple Steps to Achieve Your Short-Term Goals Effectively -

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Let me guess… There are several personal goals you would like to accomplish in life.

Do you think next year will be the perfect time to set those short-term goals and get them all done once and for all?

By New Year’s Eve, you are all excited. You think you have the perfect plan, maybe, sort of…

You want to learn a new language; you want to take charge of your health, you want to travel more, get a promotion, etc.

So, imagine the new year is here. Your plan? Get that gym membership or buy that expensive machine to exercise at home or both! First, simply relax and think about it later tomorrow. And that is your plan; you will start tomorrow or next week…

Maybe you know things need to change, and there are things to improve, but you don’t know precisely what and how to do it. This is why it is important to set short-term goals, to be able to accomplish the big goals or things that would otherwise take a long time. Long-term goals do not have to be unattainable and overwhelming. First, look at examples of short-term goals and how they help us accomplish long-term goals or those bigger ones in our life.

Short-Term Goals, aka Smart Goals

There is an acronym that stands for SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, and Relevant. When you set short-term goals, you are essentially setting up a framework for success!

Where to Start to Accomplish Your Short-Term Goals?

Those smart goals can only be accomplished by taking a deep dive into what you want to get done or improved in your personal life, and I will show you how easy it is with these 5 simple steps. In a nutshell, you need to:

Identify what specifically you want to accomplish.
How are you going to measure your success?
How will you achieve those goals?
and why are those goals relevant in your personal life?

Using the Right Framework

What makes the goal a short-term goal rather than a long-term goal is that the framework is structured to be accomplished in a week, a month, or a couple of months of your life. Using this framework, you look at the near future and break it into what you need to do today, tomorrow, and during the present week to accomplish the short-term goal.

Examples of Short-term goals

Some of my favorite short-term goal examples that I have accomplished using these frameworks and steps are:

Fitness goals (for example: go to the gym and follow a routine to tone my muscles)
Financial goals (for example: saving money to buy a used car with cash)
Read books (one book per month and perhaps by joining a book club)
Set a time on a specific day and time to call a friend or go out with my husband as a short-term goal to improve the relationship.
Professional goals include sharing on social media once or twice a week and gaining a following for the brand.
Short-term career goals include meeting a certain number of my clients each week to get my license as a therapist (I am a marriage and family therapist).
Taking steps for financial security today (for example, start saving a small amount of money every week to be able to invest at the end of the month)
Professional development (for example, setting a time to take continuing education units for my profession as an MFT)
Small savings to pay credit card debt (I love Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball method, highly recommended!)

These short-term goals are a great way to accomplish specific goals. In a way, you are breaking your larger goals into smaller steps to attain what may be otherwise overwhelming at first. This article will show you all you need to do is implement those steps in your daily life to see those reasonable goals accomplished once and for all. You will become a true master in goal setting!

Learning a new skill

This framework and steps for accomplishing your goals are the best way to get things done, but it can feel like a big task, especially when you have a difficult time with time management. The whole purpose of this step-by-step guide is to help you learn to enjoy the present moment with no waste of time or worry about not knowing how to get there. Quite frankly, this guide is a personal development tool that will take you to the next level in the big picture of your life.

First step: Using My Short-Term Goal Template

To make things easier, here is a cheat sheet to write down your ideas and follow the steps I am about to explain, click here → Free Template.

The first column contains what I would describe as a universal list of seven essential areas of your life. You can make it yours as you see fit. The important thing is that you are passionate about your priorities and realize that the ultimate goal in life is to be full of joy in the present moment!

Empty building that needs repairs, such as when there are incomplete goals in life.

Think of these areas as seven rooms in your home. When we don’t take care of those rooms,, we let the clutter and spider webs grow. You want the opposite, a beautiful interior castle 🙂

By following these steps, you will achieve those goals that have been hunting you like ghosts. Accomplishing your goals will make you feel like a million bucks and give you the fuel to continue achieving them.

We want each room to look at least clean and taken care of; therefore, by setting goals, we “enter” these rooms to clean them and tidy them up or do whatever is needed for them to be welcoming to others. Little by little, step by step. This is why we need to set small attainable achievements.

Very nice room that has been fixed and repaired, such as when your short term goals have been accomplished.

In other words, we set goals for each area to improve and achieve a better version of ourselves.

Unveiling the Power of Short-Term Goals

Tactic (method)

action or short series of actions with the aim of achieving a short–term goal. This action can be implemented as one or more specific tasks. The term is commonly

Like it was explained above, short-term goals are small steps that you can take to achieve a long-term plan. They usually are a goal you will accomplish quickly, like in a week. You do it for a month, revise it, and decide if it works.

Then if the short-term goal is doable, attainable, manageable, and does not overwhelm you, in a month, you will start seeing the benefits of the steps you are taking, even if they are small.

Short-Term Goal Template

I will explain the other columns on the template, which pertain to the simple steps of accomplishing your most wanted goals.

If you remodel a particular room in your home, would you sit down and think about how you want to change the room to make it better? Chances are you would.

A person sitting down with a pen and notebook, such as when you sit down to write your goals.

So when it comes to yourself, the first step is to sit down and write down your “vision” for each of the areas presented in the first column of our template (family, friends, work, health, spirituality, community, and education).

The order you list your values does not mean one is more important than the other. Just like your kitchen, it’s not more important than your master bedroom. These rooms are simply different areas of your life to improve.

For example, let’s say you want to set a goal for how you relate with family members. Maybe you want to set a goal of sharing more quality time with them.

You decide it is enough running around, not seeing each other, or even eating together. So you write, “I want to spend time with my husband and children to talk about our day.” This is your vision of how this “room” will improve and beautify. Your goal now has a more straightforward and set idea.

Finding Your True Motivation

Every “vision” needs true motivation. Your motivation, aka your “Why,” is why you must improve each area.

We can often give a few reasons why we want to change things, but the sense is not strong enough. Therefore, we quickly find excuses to procrastinate.

Someone sitting down drinking in their pajamas, such as when you know you have something to do but you procrastinate.

Since we lack the motivation to carry out our plan to improve something, we find excuses like I don’t have time, I don’t have money, I don’t know how it is too difficult, etc. But the truth is that with the right motivation, you will have the fuel to make it happen.

Tips to Increase Motivation

To motivate you to work on these areas, remember that they are your most important things. After all, this is why they are also called “values”. And if they are important they deserve your attention, care, and hard work.

Another powerful reminder is that by setting this goal, you will be making an impact on the life of others as well, even if it is indirectly. So, let your motivation be based on how it will help others. You will be surprised how this reminder is a powerful motivation to accomplish your goal.

For example, you want to start exercising every day. You think this will help you feel good about yourself, but you quickly stop exercising altogether.

Family outdoors enjoying camping and spending time together.

Now, if you go the extra mile and think, how can my exercising impact the life of others around me? You quickly realize that if you do it for your family, they will enjoy a better version of themselves. This gives you the push you need to do the hard work.

Keep your vision and motivation fresh by checking it frequently, especially if you give up.

You set a goal, vision, and powerful motivation in every area.

How are you going to accomplish this goal?

If you tell me you want to speak a new language to help poor children in a faraway country, I would ask how you will accomplish this goal. Your answer is one of the most important steps you will consider because that is your strategy to achieve your goal.

Very looking at the pieces on a chess board, such as when you think about your strategy to accomplish your short term goals.

When setting up a goal, it is necessary to have a vision and the right motivation, but nothing will really get accomplished until you have a strategy.

Your strategy is a reasonable and attainable step you can take in the immediate future (aka this coming week).

For example, if you want to improve your health by eating healthier and you do it so that you and others enjoy being with a more healthy version of yourself…then your strategy could be that you will prepare your meals on Sunday so you know what will be on your plate for the week (just an example).

This column of our template prepares you with a specific, attainable, tiny step you can take every week and review every month to ensure you are on track to get to the finish line.

The Most Important Step

You are almost at the finish line! Please repeat to yourself: “If it is important for me, it will have priority (day and time) in my schedule”. The things that matter the most to you are in your schedule.

A pen on top of a planner to write a schedule.

If this were a puzzle of a picture of you running, this would be part of the puzzle where we see you running. Now the question is, when will you perform your strategy? What day of the week? At what time?

For example, let’s say you are working on the “Friends” area of your life, and you want to increase your time with friends to at least call one of them every week simply because you value your friendships.

Board with sticky notes that has one note in the center with the words make it happen.

With this step, you put things on your calendar. Every Thursday at 3 pm, you will reach out to a friend or send a quick text asking how they are doing. No week will pass without you reaching out to a friend; therefore, you will foster those friendships that are so important to you.

You can forget it once you put it in your schedule until that day and time come. This means you are free to work on other goals at all times.

A Word About Schedules

With this system, you have at least an idea of the priority you want to work on. Then you focus on the action that will help you to get closer to your goal.

A medal-winner runner will tell you that it was discipline and having a schedule that took him or her there.

When something is significant to you, you will give it the priority it deserves!

You Got to the Finish Line!

You have finished going through the steps!
You wrote your best ideas down on your template.
You created a schedule made of the most essential things in your life,
You wrote things you want to work on and accomplish.

Behind are the days when you felt lost and with no motivation. Now you know the plan and how to get it done! Congratulations!

Two kids showing excitement for having their goals accomplished.

You have the plan, and you don’t need to wonder why, how, or when things will happen one day. You can go out now and relax without guilt because you feel empowered! You can enjoy more of life with a plan to accomplish all your goals!

Get Your Planner!

I just bought this one if you are looking for the best planner. It had excellent reviews:

Check Prices on Amazon

Here is a link again to get your free copy of the template → Get Your Short Term Goals Template.

Now make it happen! You got this!

5 Simple Steps to Achieve Your Short-Term Goals Effectively

Short-Term Goals, aka Smart Goals