Short Term Goals: Examples and Definition
They are one of the three types of goals, along with long term and life goals. Understanding the difference between them, how they connect, and how to use them can help you achieve more in any area of life.
Definition
Short-term goals are targets you aim to achieve in the near future, usually within days, weeks, or a few months. These are practical, specific actions that help you build momentum and stay focused. They create immediate wins, keep your motivation high and give you a sense of progress. Because they are easier to measure and complete, they often serve as stepping stones toward bigger long term goals.
Examples
- Academic: Study for two hours every day this week.
- Career: Update my resume by Friday and apply to five jobs.
- Health: Drink eight glasses of water every day for the next two weeks.
- Personal: Meditate for 10 minutes every morning for one month.
- Financial: Save $300 by the end of the month by cutting non-essential expenses.
To set and track such goals, you can use notes on your smartphone or one of the many todo apps. Goalposters aren't suitable for this purpose. There's no point in wasting time visualizing a goal you can simply accomplish. Creating a goal poster can take more time than working on the short term goal itself.
Why Short Term Goals Matter
They are the fuel that powers long term success:
1. They Keep You Focused. When you have a short term goal, you know what to do today, this week, or this month. That clarity cuts down on distractions and procrastination.
2. They Build Momentum. Achieving small wins creates a sense of progress. That momentum encourages you to keep going, even when things get hard.
3. They Provide Feedback. Short term goals give you a chance to check in. Are your current actions working? Do you need to adjust your plan?
4. They Help Build Habits. Repeated short term actions turn into habits, like exercising, budgeting, or studying consistently. Those habits are what carry you toward bigger results.
Short Term And Long Term Goals
They aren’t competing ideas, they are partners. One gives you vision, the other gives you structure. Long term goals inspire you to think big. Short term goals help you act small and consistently. Together, they create a powerful system for turning ideas into results and dreams into achievements.
Quite often, short term goals are used as objectives or as small, actionable steps toward achieving long term goals. However, unlike objective, short term goals are truly stand-alone goals. They are meaningful even if they aren't part of a bigger picture.
For example, your long term goal is to run a marathon in one year.
To reach it, your short term goals might be:
- Run 3 miles three times a week for the next month
- Complete a 10K race in three months
- Increase mileage by 10% every week
- Cross-train twice a week to build strength
Each of these smaller steps keeps you on track and gives you measurable progress to celebrate. If you only focused on the final marathon, you might feel overwhelmed or lose motivation. Short term goals help make big ambitions feel doable.
Long-term goals are more like the destination while short term ones are more like the steps that get you there. Without the first, you may work hard without direction. Without the last, your long term vision remains just a dream.