Want to know how to set 10-year goals? If so, you are in the right place. Keep on reading to find out why setting 10-year goals are important and how you can set your very own 10-year goals.
According to Tony Robbins, “most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a year – and underestimate what they can achieve in a decade!”
One of reasons that people underestimate what they can achieve in a decade is because it is can be difficult to imagine your life that far ahead in the future.
It may be difficult to think that far in the future but forcing yourself to sit down and set long-term goals whether it be 3-year, 5 year or 10-year goals is important if you want to achieve long-term success.
WHY YOU NEED TO SET LONG-TERM GOALS?
Firstly, setting long-term goals is important because not everything can be achieved in the short-term.
Maybe you have a professional goal that would require years of training or experience. Or maybe you want to buy a property and it will require years of saving.
Some goals will take a number of years to achieve and here is nothing wrong with that.
Secondly, setting long-term goals will ensure that your short-term goals are helping you achieve you long-term life vision.
It is easy when you are setting goals to think in the short-term. This can potentially mean that you set goals that are important for right now, but aren’t helping you move in the right direction for what you want to achieve in the long-term.
HOW TO SET YOUR 10-YEAR GOALS?
Normally, when setting goals I would recommend you look at the wheel of life to ensure that your goals are balanced. If you aren’t familiar with the wheel of life you can read about it here.
Whilst you absolutely can set your 10-year goals using the wheel of life I usually recommend concentrating on 5 areas.
- FINANCES
- HEALTH (Physical and Mental)
- RELATIONSHIPS (Family, Friends and Romantic)
- PROFESSIONAL (Career and/or Business)
- PERSONAL (Homelife, leisure time)
1. IMAGINE WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR LIFE TO BE LIKE IN 10 YEARS TIME
For each of these areas spend some time considering what you would like your life to be like in relation to each area.
In the first instance, you shouldn’t put any restrictions on what you are thinking. Let your creativity go wild and imagine what your life would look like in an ideal situation. To go a step further you can even write down your vision so you have something to refer to when writing your goals.
2. IDENTIFY WHERE YOUR CURRENT LIFE DIFFERS FROM YOUR LIFE IN YOUR 10-YEAR VISION
Once you have a clear vision in your head about the life go back through each of the five areas listed above and identify where there is a difference between your life today and the life you imagined.
For example, maybe in your 10-year vision, you are still living in the same house. In that case, you don’t need to set a goal in this area. However, if you see yourself living in a different house in a different city then you should make a note of that.
Or maybe you are currently running 5km race and in the future, you want to run marathons. So you would make a note of that.
3. DEFINE GOALS BASED ON THE GAPS YOU IDENTIFIED BETWEEN YOUR CURRENT LIFE AND FUTURE DREAM LIFE
After you have a list of the difference between your current self and your 10-year vision you should go back through the list and turn each point into a goal. A good goal should be SMART, which stands for
Specific
Measurable
Actionable
Realistic
Timed
If you haven’t come across the idea of SMART goals can find out more about this goal-setting method by reading How to set goals using the SMART goals.
NEXT STEPS
Once you have completed your 10-year goals you can then work backwards and set 5-year, 3-year, 1-year or even 12-week goals that will be working towards achieving your 10-year goals.
That’s it! You know now how to set 10-year goals.
I hope this article has persuaded you about the importance of setting 10-year goals and has inspired you to set your very own.
If you do decide to set your goals please share one in the comments below.
