It is not uncommon for things to not go as planned and that’s just fine.
Long-term Goals VS Short-term Goals
Goals are good things to have. No matter how small or how big, their completion keeps us going and drives us to be proactive.
Long-term goals might be something like these:
- What age you would like to retire.
- Moving to your favorite city.
- Building your dream home.
- Taking your dream vacation.
- Having a certain amount in savings or investment.
- Getting a promotion or creating your dream job.
Long-term goals can take decades to work towards. Investing in stocks and mutual funds is a long term game, whereas short-term goals can be by the day, weekly, or monthly. Your short term goals might be saving a certain amount of money over the year, buying a new TV, clearing junk out of your place, learning something new, taking a trip or whatever the case may be.
As said, goals are great things to have and even better to accomplish. But don’t think that your goals have to unwaveringly steer your life either.
If there is one constant, it is that things change
Often times change in our lives will alter our course and can begin to conflict with our original long-term goals. Know that these long-term goals you have are not chiseled in stone. It is good to continue to pursue them as long as possible. But don’t be hesitant to accept good change in your life if you find it conflicts with a long-term goal you have.
Things constantly change whether we like it or not. Additionally, sometimes the accomplishment of our short-term goals can have an effect on long-term goals.
We have to be willing to accept change and the effects it will have on our goals.
Short-term goals can change our course
Lets say a person has a long-term goal of wanting to retire lake-side in a nice area and have a boat and a nice car etc. This same person also has a short-term goal of visiting Costa Rica for a month to explore. Finally they accomplish their short-term Costa Rica goal. A revelation occurs as the person learns how much they loved Costa Rica. They want to pack up and move sooner rather than later.
Instead of owning the boat and fancy car the person dreams of having some investment income instead, to keep up their life in Costa Rica.
Now they are torn on whether they want to realize their initial long-term goal of he lake-side retirement, or move to Costa Rica.
The choice is entirely your own. But the point is to not feel die-hard committed to your long-term goals if new plans come to light. They are more like guidelines that can change over time with the completion of short-term goals.
Don’t be afraid of change
You may be pretty fixated on your initial long-term goals and not wanting to stray away from that path. Having these goals is better than having no goals at all no doubt. But keep in mind that if change occurs it can possible lead to things that you later describe as the best things that ever happened to you.
Take a few leaps whatever they may be if you can make them work soundly from a financial stand point.
Take risk, but use caution
It is perfectly normal for short-term goals to change our long-term goals. It can be healthy to make some spontaneous change from time to time and alter our paths. But keep in mind that this should never have you suffer financially. Your long-term goals don’t need to get in the way of you living your life, but your life should not get in the way of your financial stability either.
If you are on a tight budget, your decisions will have to be more calculated. Not out of reach though!
Your changes in course will just take some more careful planning and execution to avoid financial ruin. Keep this in mind always when experiencing a change in feelings towards long-term goals.
if a new idea pops up, be sure that it can be executed without leaving you penniless.
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