Thursday's Time Tip: Focus on Goals pt 2: Midrange Goals

Split times, mile markers, and lunch breaks.  These are all points to let us know where we are.  As a swimmer, runner, or racer split times let you know how you are doing, if you are on the right pace, need to go faster, or slower.  Split times let you know how you are doing.  On a road trip the mile marker gives you feedback as to where you are on your journey.  At the beginning, middle or near the end.  Lunch breaks are great, you're halfway through the work day!

Mid range goals are the mile markers of success.  They are the points along your journey that help complete those long range goals.  Remember the five year plan?  These are the intermediate goals, the mile marker, the big goals that help you make the bigger goal.

So you've set up the long range goal.  Get a degree, build a house, write a novel, retire, to name a few.  There are major things that must be done to complete the larger goal.  Loan for a home, or get accepted into a university or collage.  Find a publisher.  These things are not hard to do, they just take some time, some planning, some down time to think through.

A lot of people fail at their goals, not because the goal isn't worthy, they just don't take the time to plan out how they will complete the goal.  Busy life make for a hard time to set goals and map out a plan to make it.  Successful people are those that do the things that other people don't want to do.

So lets start with a dream.  Say a dancer wants to own her own dance studio.  She is good at dancing.  So her five year plan is:

I own my own successful dance studio.

Now what will it take to have a dance studio?

A building.

Students

Teachers


Some business savvy perhaps?

So the midterm goals could be:

Get a business degree.
become a dance teacher

So our dancer needs to research business and dance schools.  She is talented and does well, so she gets a job as a dance teacher.  She can learn how to do the work, but the collage classes will teach her what she will need to do to be a successful business owner.

She will need to find a school that will work for her.  Learn what needs to happen to be accepted into the school.  Earn money for tuition.

So her list of things for midterm goals would be:

I have a job that will allow me to go to school.
I am accepted into business school
I make great grades.
I have a realtor.

So as she completes the things needed she is getting closer to her big goal, having her own successful dance studio.  So that is why a dancer is in an economics class.

She will need to write a business proposal for the bank to get a loan.

She will need a realtor to help her find a suitable building, or a builder to build a custom studio.

As you stop and think of things the list can grow and seem daunting.  Don't let it stop you.  That dream, that goal can be achieved.  Take the time to plan, set up the mid term goals and deadlines for key things to happen.

So what do you want to do?  What will you need to do to get there?

This seems simple enough, and obvious, but a lot of people do not take the time to do this simple part.  Set up the mile markers for your journey to complete the five year plan.  Research and figure out what it will take to get to be where you want to be.  Then get out there and do it!