Long-term goals examples can help you achieve personal growth and establish a successful career. Writing down your long-term goals makes them concrete and easier to keep track of. According to research conducted at Dominican University of California, people are 42 percent more likely to accomplish their goals when they write them down.
So, what are long-term goals? Of all the different types of goals, they might be the most important type to learn how to formulate. Below are the top examples of long-term goals for a successful life or career.
What Is a Long-Term Goal?
Long-term goals are goals you want to accomplish in the distant future. Usually, these goals take a lot of time, patience, and planning. Long-term goals consist of multiple short-term goals, which you should identify to know what daily steps you should be making along the way.
For instance, if your professional goal is to establish a business, your short-term goal could be hiring staff, assessing your target audience, and creating a budget.
Where Are Long-Term Goals Used?
- Businesses
- Government agencies
- Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
- Schools and classrooms
- Domestic settings
Why Are Long-Term Goals Important?
Long-term goals are important because they help you take concrete steps to improve your personal life, family life, or your career. To achieve your goals, you will have to plan ahead and work hard. This could mean undertaking a grad program, getting additional training, networking, or doing all of the above.
Real-World Examples of Long-Term Goals
A long-term goal is fundamental in defining the different aspects of your life, family, or business that you want to work on. Whether it’s a personal goal or a financial goal, a long-term goal can give you clarity into the elements you need to adjust, and it helps you avoid failure. Below are some examples of long-term goals.
- Business goals
- Career goals
- Education goals
- Family goals
- Financial goals
- Health and fitness goals
- Leadership goals
- Marketing goals
- Personal goals
- Spiritual goals
10 Great Examples of Long-Term Goals
Long-Term Goal Example 1: Business Goals
Long-term business goals refer to what you want to accomplish in your professional life as a business owner. This can include expanding your market, growing your product, or extending the reach of your service. While these are broader goals, you need to set concrete steps to achieve them.
To expand your market, you may have to do in-depth research about different locations, your target audience, and the competitors in your industry. This can help you have practical and achievable goals for your company.
Long-Term Goal Example 2: Career Goals
Creating professional goals can help you outline a career plan, whether that means kickstarting a profession or becoming an authority in your field. These goals can lead to incredible results for your business or your employer. They can also give you fulfillment and define you as a competent professional.
Some common long-term career goal examples are transitioning into a different field, getting your dream job, winning an award to enhance your resume, and receiving a salary increase. These goals can help you establish a successful career with numerous benefits.
Long-Term Goal Example 3: Education Goals
Education is one of the main requirements for most jobs. Nevertheless, it can be time-consuming to complete an education program, such as a bachelor’s degree or doctoral degree program. Setting long-term education goals can motivate you to develop the kinds of short-term actions that will keep you focused and moving in the right direction.
For example, if you decide to acquire a Bachelor’s Degree in Software Engineering, you can break this into short-term goals, including the grades you want and how you will attain them.
Long-Term Goal Example 4: Family Goals
Setting long-term family goals can give you and your family members something to look forward to. These family goals can help children and adults learn essential skills, which creates strong relationships within your family.
These goals motivate family members to collaborate and work as a team, which ensures the future success of everyone. Some of the family goals you can plan for include setting up annual family Olympics, taking annual family road trips, and strengthening relationships with the extended family.
Long-Term Goal Example 5: Financial Goals
Setting long-term financial goals eliminates the need to worry about getting old or agonize over having enough funds for your retirement or your child’s education. These types of goals help you become disciplined, remain committed to a vision, and maintain a good credit score.
Long-term financial goals could include becoming financially independent, earning a specific income from several passive income streams, paying off all debts, or retiring at an early age. If you’re unsure where to begin, you can draw inspiration from the list of the highest-paying occupations on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.
Long-Term Goal Example 6: Health and Fitness Goals
You should prioritize health and fitness goals to ensure you stay in good shape. To set long-term health and fitness goals, identify different areas of improvement, then set practical and achievable objectives. These goals could include losing weight in specific parts of your body, adhering to a healthy diet, practicing strength or endurance training, or running a half marathon.
Long-Term Goal Example 7: Leadership Goals
The pressure and responsibility that come with being a leader can hinder you from accomplishing optimal results. Whether you lead a company, organization, or club, you should set long-term goals to ensure you and your team are moving in the right direction.
When you define these long-term goals, you should set short-term goals to make problems more manageable. This will ensure maximum productivity. For instance, as a senior software developer working in a global company, you can have a goal to create an app from scratch for Internet users.
Long-Term Goal Example 8: Marketing Goals
Marketing goals are common in companies, especially those that want to expand internationally. Long-term marketing goals take between one and 18 months to accomplish. For instance, according to research from Ahrefs, getting to the top position of Google’s search engine results page can take six to 12 months.
Breaking down the step-by-step process of each long-term goal is necessary to keep your team from getting overwhelmed. Establishing a timeframe will keep the team on the right track and motivate them any time they complete their short-term actions.
Long-Term Goal Example 9: Personal Goals
A personal goal helps you determine your passion, your purpose, and what you want to accomplish in life. Some examples of long-term personal goals are purchasing a home near a body of water, renovating your home, acquiring land, finding a life partner, writing a book, climbing a mountain, and moving to your dream country.
Long-Term Goal Example 10: Spiritual Goals
Similar to your body and mind, your soul requires nourishment. Whether through meditation or enlightenment, long-term spiritual goals help you connect to a supreme being. Whether you’re religious or not, these goals connect you to your soul, emotions, intellect, and conscience.
Having a sense of peace and purpose is necessary for healthy and happy living. Some examples of long-term spiritual goals are attaining clarity on your beliefs, coaching a new believer, going on a personal retreat for prayer or study, reflecting on your actions, and joining and participating in weekly Bible study.
Pro Tips: How to Stick to Your Long-Term Goals
- Have an open mind. When you approach every long-term goal with an open mind, you can accommodate a variety of outcomes and deal with them appropriately. You are less likely to be disappointed by the outcome.
- Consider all the dimensions of your life. All the aspects of your life are interdependent, and you need to think about each aspect while setting long-term goals. If you set a business goal that demands long working hours, you must ensure you are healthy and fit for maximum output.
- Have rewards for accomplishing mini-steps. To keep yourself or your team motivated, you need to reward yourself for every action plan you implement. This will help you stick to your short-term goals, long-term goals, and realize your dream.
What Should Be the Next Step in My Personal and Professional Development Journey?
The next step in your life and career development journey is to put down realistic and achievable long-term goals. This will ensure you make effective decisions that will give you desired results. Once you write down your long-term goals, break them down into short-term goals or actions so that they’re clear and you can easily track your progress.
Long-Term Goal Examples FAQ
Intermediate goals are future plans you can accomplish in one to five years. Unlike short-term goals, intermediate goals take more time and money. Nevertheless, they have fewer requirements than long-term goals.
To answer a job interview question on career goals, describe your long-term career goals. Then explain your short-term goals and articulate a plan of action that will help you accomplish them. While the question is about you, try to incorporate the company’s mission statement. It will show the employer that your goals are aligned with theirs and increase your chances of getting hired.
You can avoid distractions by writing out different scenarios and preparing for different contingencies. An urgent crisis isn’t always unavoidable, but don’t let it distract you from realizing your goals. Take the distractions in stride and keep your eyes on the prize.
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SMART goals stand for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-specific plans. A SMART goal is more focused and attainable than a traditional goal.
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