The most important thing to remember when setting goals is to split long-term goals into smaller steps so you are not overwhelmed. Sometimes, when setting long-term goals, they might seem unattainable or impossible to achieve. However, by breaking them down into smaller, more realistic goals, they won’t seem as impossible anymore. For instance, let’s say your goal is to buy a car. However, simply setting a goal to purchase a car seems impossible. Instead, make smaller goals. The first step should be to get a job. Set a goal to get a job within the next two months. After that, plan out how much money you want to save each month and how many months you need to buy a car. These smaller goals will make the long-term goal of buying a car more realistic.
Along with this, it is important to be realistic in the time you set to reach your goals. Going back to the car example, if you currently have a job that is paying minimum wage, it would be unrealistic to make a goal to purchase a car within the next year. Instead, you should calculate and plan realistically how long it will take to save enough money. On the other hand, if you plan too much time to reach a goal, you will procrastinate. For example, if you set a goal to buy a car in the next 15 years, that is too long. It won’t seem like a goal you currently have to work towards, so you might not save your money until closer to that deadline.
Lastly, when making long-term goals, I like to write them down on a piece of paper and make a checklist of all the smaller goals to obtain that long-term goal. Each time I finish something from the checklist, I cross it off. I love seeing every item on the checklist get crossed off gradually. It makes me feel accomplished and that I am truly working towards my goals.