Goals VS Objectives: What Is The Difference?
There is a subtle but vital difference between goals and objectives. Learn about the difference today!
Society wants you to focus on the present rather than plan for your future. This teaches you short-term thinking. Common societal distractions include sports, entertainment, celebrities, news, and politics. You can dedicate your time and money toward external distractions that won’t improve your life. Or you can choose to invest in yourself. A vital way to focus on yourself is understanding the difference between goals and objectives.
Goals
Merriam Webster Dictionary defines a goal or an aim as “the end goal which effort is directed.”
A goal means that you are working to achieve some type of end. You direct your time, attention, and effort to reach your end-point. You are actively working to conclude a task or project. Tasks and projects can range in difficulty and time required to complete them. That is why it is critical to set realistic goals.
There are three main types of goals: short-term, medium-term, and long-term goals.
Short-term goals typically will require one month to a year to complete. A medium-term goal will require between one to three years to complete. A long-term goal can require between three to ten years to complete.
The primary process of working is to set a goal, plan, get to work, stick to working on it, and then reach your goal.
You must set a goal. You do not know what you are working toward if you do not have a goal. You want your goal to be concrete and something that you want to do.
You must then have a plan. Your plan is the steps that are needed to accomplish your goal. Short-term goals require fewer steps compared to long-term goals. Make a mental note or list the steps necessary to reach your goal.
You want to stick to working on your goal. You will deal with distractions and problems that come up while you are working to complete a goal. You can learn to handle these issues when they arrive. They may set you back some, but you can learn from them for the next goal you set.
You will finally reach your goal. You can then celebrate. You can then start the process over again to reach your next goal.
You can work toward multiple goals at once. You can work on short-term goals that further your medium and long-term goals. For example, since I have decided to make writing my main thing. I now have a general process for writing books.
I aim to write content for the main website and Substack each week. This forces me to improve my writing. I also generate content across various topics.
I can then reorganize that content in various ways to complete a medium-term goal. The medium-term goal is to release a book every couple of years. The content is organized into a more formal book form with chapters that build off each other compared to random posts. I then self-edit more with a formal book, which I will self-publish. I have an editor review it twice before finalizing the book to send to a book formatter. I then need to work with a cover designer and apply to copyright the book title.
Writing a book takes time, but it can become an income stream. Once the book is written, you can sell a workbook and journal with the main book for your more hardcore fans to purchase. You then go from having one to three income streams.
The long-term goal is to use my books to direct people toward my Substack and other products and services that I eventually come up with while continuing to grow my business.
Objectives
Merriam Webster Dictionary defines an objective as “something toward which effort is directed” and “a strategic position to be attained or a purpose to be achieved by a military operation.”
An objective is being strategic in your actions and the effort you put in each day to reach a goal. An objective is the small choices and actions you take to achieve the goal you set out to achieve. You are working with a purpose to complete to attain your end goal.
Your objective could be any number of things. You want to make sure that your objectives align with your final goal. If your objectives do not align, reaching them will take longer, or you may never accomplish your goal.
That is why you must be strategic with how you spend your time and attention each day. You can either be working on an objective that can help you reach a goal or waste your time and attention on things that keep you from attaining your goal.
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Summary
Being aware of the subtle differences between goals and objectives is good. A goal is what you have set for yourself to reach. You then want to develop a process and plan to help you meet your goal. You must work on an objective to help you reach your goal. You must work on the small moving parts daily to achieve your goal.
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