You won’t be able to control every aspect of your life.

You can’t stop those you come in contact with from the actions they take.

There will be situations handed to you that will force you to make difficult decisions.

There are several aspects of your life that you can control, but most people choose to let something or someone else be in control.

If you want to take your life back and start making a difference for yourself, you need to set goals.

To get the most out of your goal-setting experiences, divide your time into setting short-term, medium-term and long-term goals.

It may be better to start with the long-term goals, as the other two types could be dependent on that.

But, even listing out your goals based on whatever time frame you choose, is going to help you overall.

It’s better than not setting any goals.

Your short-term goals should focus on your daily activities.

You need to include activities that won’t necessarily advance your life but are necessary to complete.

For instance, you need to factor in paying bills, taking your kids to afterschool activities, etc.

But, people will use these extra activities as a means to show others they are keeping busy.

They often wonder why they don’t get ahead.

This is also a great reason why we need to list our short-term goals.

Otherwise, the important tasks will get lost in the shuffle.

When considering medium-term goals, you want to project out two or three months in advance.

It is okay to make this longer, but try to keep it focused on less than one year.

Your medium-term goals should focus on activities and events that will make a difference in your livelihood.

For instance, you can plan a meeting that will result in expanding your leads. Another example is completing training that will help position you for a promotion, and so on.

Long-term goals are ones that you project over a year.

These goals when reached, will completely change the way you or members of your family live. It could be your kids going off to college or you and your spouse retiring to a vacation home, etc.

These goals will take a considerable amount of planning, and you will need to make sure you have alternatives ready when those plans are altered.

The key to goal setting is to measure them.

Have predefined checks or milestones to ensure you are on the right track, and choose alternatives when you are not.

Let me know in the comments what your short and long-term goals are for this year!