How To Make Long-Term Plans To Achieve Your Goals

Accomplishing long-term personal, financial, and career goals tends to be easier when you have a plan. After all, knowing your destination can only get you so far if you don’t have a map to guide your way. But how do you set long-term goals in the most effective way, and what steps can you take to make them easier to achieve? Let’s explore some strategies that may help. 

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Setting the right kinds of goals

When you set a long-term goal, whether in your personal life or your professional life, it can be important to make sure you’re designing it in a way that sets you up for success. For example, is your goal too vague? If so, it may be hard to figure out how to get there. Are your measures of success clear? If not, you may find it hard to know when you’ve achieved it or if you’re making progress. 

One way to maximize your chances of success is by using the S.M.A.R.T. goal framework. If you work in the corporate world, you may have already heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals in a business context, but this goal-setting strategy can be used for both work-related and personal goals. According to this framework, goals may be easier to achieve if they are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely, and research suggests that when you set goals using this approach, you may be more likely to achieve them.

Specific

The more specific a goal is, the easier it may be to find a clear path to achieving it. For example, instead of saying, “My goal is to start my own business,” you might say, “My goal is to start an online store selling custom-made artwork.” The narrower your focus is, the easier you may find it to figure out what steps are needed. 

Measurable

Whether you’re pursuing creative, professional, or financial goals, it can be important to track progress. In order to do this, your goals need to be measurable. For example, rather than saying, “My goal is to have a better work-life balance,” you might say, “My goal is to reduce my work weeks to 40 hours,” or “My goal is to have at least two hours of family time after work every day.” This may make it easier to stay on track and monitor how far along you are in your plan. 

Achievable

Although it may be tempting to set lofty goals, it can also be important to make sure they’re realistic enough for you to achieve them. For example, rather than setting a goal of meeting and marrying your life partner by next January, you might instead set a goal of going to three singles events each month. This may help you stay motivated without getting frustrated if you run into challenges or setbacks. 

Relevant

In a 2017 study, researchers found that people were more likely to stay dedicated to their long-term goals when there was also an immediate reward, like enjoyment. Therefore, picking a goal that aligns with your values and interests may also be important for staying on track. For example, if you’re trying to learn Japanese, it may be more enjoyable if you have a trip planned to Japan or a Japanese-speaking friend you want to get to know better.  If there are fun, local cultural events related to Japan that you can attend as you learn, you may be even more likely to stick to your practice.

Timely

Goals may not always have to have a set timeline, but it may still be a good idea to give yourself some general deadlines so you can stay motivated and on track. This can be especially important for goals that require advance planning, like training to run a marathon. Try to pick a timeframe that’s realistic enough to be achievable but firm enough to give you a sense of momentum and urgency. 

How to make long-term plans once you’ve chosen a goal

Once you’ve outlined a goal that seems doable and follows the other criteria listed above, you can start making a plan for achieving it. What this process looks like can depend on you and your specific goal, but the following general strategies may make it easier.

Break down your goal

Breaking a large goal down into smaller goals may make it more achievable, especially when it comes to those that are longer-term. You might start by listing each thing you need to accomplish in order to achieve your big goal. You can then break each of those things down again by listing all the tasks that go into each one, and so on. The smaller you go, the easier you may find it to get started and build momentum. 

Set milestones

Milestones are smaller achievements you accomplish on your way to reaching your main goal. For example, if your goal is to lose 50 pounds, you might set a milestone for every five pounds you lose. This can give you something to celebrate and use to mark your progress.

Plan to adjust

When it comes to long-term plans, detours are inevitable. Whether it’s a surprise move, an illness, the birth of a child, or an unexpected loss, you may run into things that delay your progress. As you’re making your plan, it can help to leave room for the unexpected and give yourself permission to change course if needed. 

Anticipate challenges

While you can’t predict everything that might happen, it can help to have a general idea of what could go wrong. Consider making a game plan for the worst-case scenarios. For example, if your goal is to improve your public speaking skills, you might prepare some anxiety-management exercises in case you panic at a speaking event or perceive a negative response from your audience. Having something to fall back on may help make the process less intimidating. 

Need help making plans and achieving goals?

Get guidance from a counselor

Seek support

Even if you’ve chosen a solitary goal, you may still find it helpful to have a support network. Other people—like family, friends, or professional mentors—can be a source of encouragement and advice when you run into challenges. Online forums, interest groups, and meetups may also be useful if you aren’t sure where to turn. 

Making plans to achieve your goals—and then following through on them—can be stressful, especially with goals that mean a lot to you. Running into obstacles can be distressing, and it can sometimes be hard to know if you’re on the right track. A therapist may be able to offer more personalized advice for making plans that are effective, achievable, and beneficial to your personal growth.  

If you’re working toward a long-term goal, you may find that you need more support to stay on track than you can get in a single weekly therapy session. In addition to facilitating regular phone or video sessions, platforms like BetterHelp let you contact your therapist at any time via in-app messaging, and they will respond as soon as they can. This functionality can make online therapy a useful option when you run into issues outside your scheduled sessions. 

Research suggests that online therapy may be an effective way to reduce stress, which can be common among people who are working toward important goals. In a 2022 review, researchers analyzed 13 studies on internet-based therapy. Their findings suggest that online therapy may effectively reduce symptoms of elevated stress. 

Takeaway

When planning for your future, it can help to choose goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. As you make a plan to accomplish them, you may find it useful to break them down into smaller steps, anticipate challenges, and seek outside support from family, friends, coworkers, and/or a therapist.