Short-term goals are often overlooked, but they can help you build a routine, eliminate bad habits, incorporate new healthy habits into your routine, and make yourself feel better.
You don’t have to set short goals that are hard to achieve to do this. Instead, it all comes down to the simplest things we often do daily and finding a way to improve on them. Of course, short-term goals can also help you do things you’ve been skipping on doing or were always leaving for the next day.
And no matter the reason, if you’re looking to set a couple of awesome short-term goals, these 25 examples below will be more than enough to get you started today!
Best Short-Term Goals Examples
1. Building a Morning Routine
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The best way to start your morning efficiently, which will lead to a much more organized and productive way, is to build a morning routine.
By building a morning routine, you can make your mornings better, get more things done in a day, and feel better about getting things done early in the day, leading to a much better afternoon.
This short-term goal can include waking up earlier, exercising earlier in the morning, making a proper breakfast, and even getting a couple of things done every morning.
Also Read: Objective vs Goal
2. Improve Productivity on a Daily Basis
Productivity measures how many things and how much work we can get done in a certain time frame. There are always ways to double up your productivity, which can get more things done in the same time frame.
Things that can help you double up your productivity include writing a daily to-do list, planning your week, and scheduling everything in your calendar. This can help you move on with your day a lot easier, get more things done, and have more free time later.
3. Keep a Daily Journal
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If you look at some of the most successful people, almost all of them recommend keeping a daily journal.
Keeping a daily journal is an easy yet important short-term goal that can help you improve your daily routine, ease your mind by writing down anything that you’re thinking about, and even improve your creativity.
Explore: Attention To Detail – Examples & How To Improve It?
4. Build a New Habit Every Month
Habits are exactly what dictates our life, and they’re far less complex than people think. Habits are things we do consistently daily. Nothing more and nothing less, yet the compounded action has a much bigger effect on our life, whether it’s a good or bad habit.
Everyone has at least a couple of things they’d like to improve about themselves, and working on achieving at least one new habit every month by staying consistent with one action can help you improve the way you make decisions.
5. Practice Weekly Family Rituals
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Family is important, and yet sometimes, life gets in the way. Therefore, a short-term goal can be to practice weekly family rituals, including staying in touch with your loved ones, checking up on your family members, writing thoughtful messages, or simply freeing up some of your time to be there.
This might sound simple, but this short-term goal can help you strengthen your bond with your family members, bring a family closer, and help everyone face tougher times easier.
Also Read: Personal Mission Statement Examples
6. Learn a New Thing Every Day
It’s so easy to learn new things, and yet as humans, we mostly focus on the things we know that we forget to learn.
Learning can be reading a couple of facts a day, watching a practical tutorial on something that could be super useful in your everyday life, or learning something new you’re interested in.
This can trigger your brain to learn new information easily and quickly, but it will also motivate you to learn more and even improve your confidence as you might end up being the smartest person in the room anywhere you go!
7. Track Monthly Budget
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If you are not keeping your monthly budget, you won’t know the difference between the amount of money you earn and the amount of money.
Overspending can easily get you in debt, yet tracking the monthly budget doesn’t take anything more than a simple sheet of paper (or an Excel file) and a couple of minutes every day to write down your expenses.
At the end of the month, you’ll know exactly what your budget is like, what expenses break your bank, and exactly how much you earn in a month from all your income sources.
8. Finish Work Tasks Before Deadlines
Often, we always leave things for the last minute, yet this can easily cause stress build-up and put you under a lot of pressure, especially at work.
However, getting the hardest things done first, even way before the deadline, can help ease the pressure, make things easier in your life, and make you a better worker!
9. Reduce Unnecessary Expenses
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The easiest way to get in debt is to overspend, and if you aren’t tracking your budget, you won’t know if you are overspending at all.
Subscriptions are one of the easiest ways to reduce unnecessary expenses because you might have subscriptions that you aren’t fully taking advantage of or have even forgotten about.
10. Cut Back on Calories and Be More Active in a Day
If you are trying to get more fit, there’s no better short-term goal than to start counting your calories and being more active in a day.
With apps such as MyFitnessPal, you can easily calculate how many calories you need in a day and then track everything you eat to see how many calories you eat and come up with ideas on how to cut back on calories.
Combine this with regular exercise, even if it’s a daily walk, and you’ll feel much healthier straight away.
11. Get up Earlier on Workdays
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Even if you don’t have to get up early for work, it’s smart to get out of bed earlier on workdays to set up a morning routine.
If you get up earlier, even if it’s 20 minutes earlier, you’ll be able to feel more organized, get smaller tasks done early in the day, and feel better.
Now, for the best results, getting up before the sun does will make you feel like you’ve achieved a lot when you might not have even done anything at all, which can set you up for a successful day.
12. Organize Everything Around You
Staying organized can help you be more productive, get more things done, and stop procrastinating. Therefore, take a couple of minutes every couple of days to organize things around you.
This can include your living space, your office, your car, or anything you’re using daily.
13. Work on Improving Your Confidence and Communication
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One of the things we do daily is communicate, and confidence is always something all of us could use a bit more.
Great communication skills can help you in many areas of life, both personal and business, and yet it’s one of the easiest skills you can practice with a bit of learning, will, and consistency.
14. Find Ways to Eliminate Procrastination
Feeling lazy, overwhelmed, uninspired, or unmotivated can easily lead to procrastination, yet eliminating procrastination can help you get more things done in a more fun way and free up more time later in the day.
Everyone is different, so you need to find a way to keep things interesting, keep yourself entertained, stay motivated, and push through the hardest tasks and things in your day.
Combining this short-term goal with waking up early and a healthy morning routine can help you get more things done earlier in the day so you’re motivated for the afternoon and evening.
15. Work on Paying Off Your Debt and Set a Time Frame
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Debt can easily accumulate, and if you don’t have a proper plan to repay it, it will only stick around even if it’s not growing.
By setting this as your short-term goal, you’ll have to know exactly how much debt you have, how much of it you would be able to repay, and what time frame this could happen.
Keeping a reminder and pushing yourself to take action daily to achieve this goal can help you save more money, cut down expenses, and repay your debt faster to improve your financial situation.
16. Spend Less Time in Front of a Screen Before Bed on Workdays
Spending a lot of time in front of the screen during the day isn’t good for the eyes, but spending even more time in the evening and at night can mess up a sleep pattern, reduce sleep quality, and make it harder to fall asleep.
Setting a certain time when you’re going to drop all electronics and replacing them with a book is a much better alternative to seeing better sleep results.
17. Read for Half an Hour Every Day
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Reading exercises the brain, and it can be a very affordable (if not free) entertainment that can help you improve your sleep, relax during the day, improve concentration and focus, and even increase knowledge.
Depending on the books you decide to read, even reading for half an hour a day can be motivational, so reading before bed or right after you wake up can set you up for a good sleep or day.
18. Be More Active on Weekends
Staying all day indoors or in bed can feel good because you’ll be in your comfort zone, but getting ready and going for a walk, a jog, or even running errands and getting everything done on the weekend can help you keep up your productivity throughout the whole week.
You can still enjoy Sunday, by getting everything done on a Saturday and preparing yourself for the week ahead to keep up your routine.
19. Finish One Education Course Online a Month
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Improving your skills, learning new skills, and constantly developing yourself will help you achieve all your results faster and make everything you do a lot easier with time.
Therefore, a great way to keep yourself self-disciplined is to set this as your short-term goal and finish one online course a month to refresh your knowledge, learn something new, and build upon your existing knowledge.
20. Save 5% of Your Paycheck Every Month
Saving can always seem the hardest task to do since once we get some money in hand, it goes away so easily.
However, being strict with yourself and setting aside 5% of every paycheck first, even before paying all your bills, can help you save money and still keep your finances in check.
This can lead to better financial stability and more money on the side for emergencies, investing, or for something you’ve always wanted.
21. Do One Thing a Week That Will Get You Out of Your Comfort Zone
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Your comfort zone is the easiest place to stick around, but getting out of it is important because it can help you become a stronger person, be more creative, improve your confidence, develop yourself further, meet new people, and gain new experiences.
Therefore, setting this as your short-term goal by doing just one new thing a week can help you achieve all these great benefits.
22. Walk More Every Week and Count the Steps Using Your Smartphone
Getting in a car can become a routine, yet walking can help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce blood pressure, strengthen bones and muscles, and even improve endurance.
Therefore, choosing to walk instead of drive to places nearby can help you build a healthier routine, improve your fitness, and keep things interesting by using your smartphone to set a certain step goal.
23. Practice Mindfulness Meditation and Breathing Every Day for a Month
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Practicing mindfulness can help you connect with your mind, and yet it doesn’t take a lot of time out of your day.
As a result, it can help reduce depression and anxiety, improve memory, positively affect cognitive improvements, and even lead to better physical health, among other benefits.
Combined with quick breathing exercises you can find in many smartphone apps, you will be able to start and finish your day stress-free. Setting this as your goal and practicing it consistently can lead to more visible benefits.
24. Sort Out One Thing Every Week That You’ve Been Putting Off for Some Time
Each of us has at least a couple of things we’ve been putting off for a while. Of course, it’s always easy to put something off, but it can get harder and harder to get things done as time passes.
Therefore, it’s important to set time aside to deal with things that have been put on hold for longer than they should have. This will help you feel a sense of relief and ensure you don’t put things off, and even if you do, it’s not for way longer than you should.
25. Become More Social and Host a Social Gathering/Party Every Other Weekend
A strong social life can help improve mental health, lighten up your mood, make you feel happier, help you confide in others, and promote a sense of belonging, among other benefits.
Many people don’t even know that setting time aside for social activities can help you reduce the risk of dementia.
Therefore, setting this as your goal, and hosting or attending a social gathering or a party at least every other weekend, can lead to many more benefits than you’d expect, even if it means getting out of your comfort zone.
Conclusion
Short-term goals are very easy to choose and set, but it’s all about sticking with them, being consistent, and using them to break your bigger goals down to achieve them more easily.
While it’s always recommended to aim high and shoot for the stars, it’s always the short-term goals that will help you achieve bigger goals and put you on the path of healthy habits and consistency required in many aspects of your life.
At the same time, short-term goals will help you with your everyday life, so choosing at least a couple of these goals and sticking to them will provide results you might not even be aware of!
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