Guiding Principles - Long Term Over Short Term Goals

Both short and long term goals are important to me. In fact, without breaking my long term goals up into shorter term goals, I would have given up on all of this before I even started. Goal setting is a huge topic to discuss. In fact, I'm sure many people have written many books on the subject, so I won't go into too much depth here. From a simplistic stand point, I try to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound).

One example of a short term goal that I shared in a previous blog post is that I want to weigh 246 lbs or less by May 7. So here is how it breaks down:

• The goal is specific to how much I weigh
• The goal is measurable by simply stepping on the scale
• The goal is attainable because it required losing an average of 2 lbs a week over the course of 12 weeks
• The goal is relevant as it fits into my focus of weight loss for the year
• The goal is time-bound because I need to meet it by May 7

So what does this all have to do with long vs. short term goals? Don't worry, I'm getting to that part. You see, the above example is what I consider a short term goal. By that, I mean that it is a building block to help me reach my larger goal of being able to train for and run my first marathon next year. For me, it is very important to keep that long term goal in mind at all times.

Throughout the past 2 years I have missed on several short term goals, but I never used that as an excuse to give up. Setting the goal to weigh 246 lbs by May 7 gives me something to focus on in the near future to help me stay motivated each day. However, if you remember, I wasn't able to reach my last short term goal of weighing 260 lbs by the end of February. Even though I missed that goal, my long term goal of running a marathon next year is still my focus and I have put myself back on track by setting new short term goals.

What are some short and long term goals that you have? Feel free to share in the comments section below.