Long-Term Goals Examples: 40 Goals for 1 to 10 Years
A long-term goal is one that takes more than a year. That is the meaning used in this post. It is too big to finish by trying harder next month, so it needs a different kind of plan: a direction, a few milestones and one small step you can take now.
Below are 40 long-term goals examples in five areas. Each has a rough time span and a first step for this month. After the list, three of them are cut into yearly and quarterly milestones, because a ten-year goal with no step this month is a wish.
Pick one or two. Most people can carry one large goal in each part of life, and not in every part at once.
What makes a good long-term goal
- You would still want it in five years. A long-term goal costs years of evenings. Choose it for the person you are, not for how it sounds.
- You can tell when it is done. "Be successful" has no end. "Run my own business that pays my salary" does.
- It has a year on it. Not a day, a year. "By the end of 2030" is enough to plan backwards from.
- Most of it depends on you. You can't decide to be promoted. You can decide to gain the skills and results the role asks for.
If your goal is still vague, the SMART goal generator rewrites it with a measure and a date.
Career and work
| # | Long-term goal | Time | First step this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Move into a management role | 2 to 4 years | Ask your manager what the role needs that you don't yet show |
| 2 | Change to a new career | 2 to 3 years | Talk to two people who do that job now |
| 3 | Start a business that pays your salary | 3 to 5 years | Write the one-page version: who pays, for what, how much |
| 4 | Become the person your team asks about one subject | 2 years | Choose the subject and read one book or long guide on it |
| 5 | Earn a professional qualification | 1 to 3 years | Download the syllabus and the exam dates |
| 6 | Work for yourself as a freelancer | 2 years | Find one small paid job to do beside your work |
| 7 | Work abroad for a year or more | 2 to 3 years | List three countries and what each needs for a work permit |
| 8 | Build a portfolio of 10 finished projects | 2 years | Finish and publish the first one, however small |
Money
| # | Long-term goal | Time | First step this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Save six months of living costs | 2 to 3 years | Add up one month of spending so you know the number |
| 10 | Pay off all debt except a mortgage | 2 to 5 years | List every debt with its balance and rate |
| 11 | Save a deposit for a home | 3 to 7 years | Work out the deposit you need and divide it by the months |
| 12 | Pay off a student loan | 3 to 10 years | Check the balance, the rate and the rules for extra payments |
| 13 | Save for a child's education | 10 years or more | Open a separate account and set a monthly transfer |
| 14 | Have a second source of income | 2 to 3 years | List three things people already ask you for help with |
| 15 | Put a fixed share of every pay into retirement savings | Ongoing, checked each year | Find out what you pay in now and what your employer adds |
| 16 | Pay off the mortgage early | 10 years or more | Ask your lender what an extra payment each month would change |
These are examples of goals, not financial advice. For decisions about loans, pensions or investing, speak to a qualified adviser.
Health and fitness
| # | Long-term goal | Time | First step this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Run a marathon | 1 to 2 years | Run or walk three times a week for four weeks |
| 18 | Reach a weight your doctor agrees is healthy, and stay there for a year | 2 years | Book a check-up and ask what a sensible target is |
| 19 | Exercise three times a week for a full year | 1 year | Choose the three days and do the first week |
| 20 | Be able to do 10 pull-ups | 1 to 2 years | Test how long you can hang from a bar |
| 21 | Stop smoking for good | 1 year and after | Ask your doctor or a stop-smoking service what help there is |
| 22 | Finish a long-distance walk or cycle route | 1 to 2 years | Pick the route and do one day's distance near home |
| 23 | Cook most of your meals at home for a year | 1 year | Learn two dinners you can make without a recipe |
| 24 | Sleep seven hours on most nights | 1 year | Set one fixed time to get up, weekends too |
Learning and skills
| # | Long-term goal | Time | First step this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | Hold a real conversation in a new language | 2 to 3 years | Book one lesson or find a speaking partner |
| 26 | Finish a degree or diploma | 2 to 6 years | Request the course guide and the entry requirements |
| 27 | Write a book | 1 to 3 years | Write the chapter list and the first 500 words |
| 28 | Learn to play an instrument well enough to play with others | 3 years | Practise for 15 minutes on five days |
| 29 | Learn to code and ship one working app | 1 to 2 years | Finish the first unit of one beginner course |
| 30 | Read 100 books | 4 to 5 years | Choose the first three and read 20 pages a day |
| 31 | Give a talk at a conference in your field | 2 years | Give a 10-minute talk to your own team |
| 32 | Reach a named level in a craft or sport | 3 to 5 years | Find the grading scheme and what the first level asks |
Studying now? Student goals examples has 40 goals sized for a term.
Personal life and family
| # | Long-term goal | Time | First step this month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Buy a first home | 3 to 7 years | Write down the area, the size and the price range |
| 34 | Visit 10 countries | 5 to 10 years | Pick the first one and the month you could go |
| 35 | Move to a city or country you would rather live in | 2 to 3 years | Spend a weekend there living as a local would |
| 36 | Record your family's history | 2 years | Record a one-hour talk with the oldest relative |
| 37 | Volunteer every month for a year | 1 year | Contact one local group and ask what they need |
| 38 | Renovate your home room by room | 3 to 5 years | List the rooms in order and price the first one |
| 39 | Take a trip with each of your children or parents | 3 years | Ask the first one where they would go |
| 40 | Keep a group of close friends you see every month | Ongoing, checked each year | Set a fixed evening and invite three people |
If your list reads more like places to see and things to try than goals to work at, the bucket list template is a better home for it.
Three long-term goals cut into milestones
The method is the same each time. Write the end. Write where you should be at the end of each year. Then cut the first year into quarters, and the first quarter into steps you can put in a calendar. Only the first year needs detail. The later years will change.
Change to a new career in 3 years (goal 2)
- Year 1: Know the job. Talk to five people who do it, finish one course, and do one small piece of real work in the field.
- Year 2: Be hireable. Three finished projects or a qualification, a rewritten CV, and ten applications.
- Year 3: Be in the job, and through the first six months of it.
- Year 1, first quarter: Two conversations with people in the job. A written list of the skills they named. One course chosen and started.
Save six months of living costs in 3 years (goal 9)
- Year 1: Two months of costs saved. A transfer that leaves your account on payday.
- Year 2: Four months saved. The transfer raised once.
- Year 3: Six months saved, in an account you don't spend from.
- Year 1, first quarter: One month of spending added up. The monthly number worked out (six months of costs divided by 36). The transfer set up.
Run a marathon in 18 months (goal 17)
- Months 1 to 6: Run three times a week without a break of more than a week. Finish a 5 km run.
- Months 7 to 12: Finish a 10 km run, then a half marathon.
- Months 13 to 18: Follow one marathon training plan from start to finish. Run the race.
- First month: Three sessions a week of running and walking, 20 to 30 minutes each. Check with a doctor first if you have not exercised for a long time.
Each of these lines is a short-term goal. That is the point: a long-term goal is reached through a row of short ones. Short-term goals examples has 45 of them sorted by one week, one month and three months.
Long-term vs short-term goals
| Aspect | Long-term goal | Short-term goal |
|---|---|---|
| Time | More than a year | A week to about three months |
| Job | Sets the direction | Is the next step in that direction |
| Detail | A year and a finish line | A date and a list of steps |
| How often you look at it | Every three months | Every week |
| What changes | The route, often | The date, sometimes |
You need both. A long-term goal with no short-term goal under it never starts. Short-term goals with no long-term goal above them keep you busy without taking you anywhere in particular.
How to keep a long-term goal alive
- Look at it every three months. Ask two things: is this still what I want, and what is the milestone for the next quarter? The quarterly goal planner lays out one quarter with its months and weeks.
- Always have one open step. At any moment there should be one thing you can do this week. If there is none, the goal is asleep.
- Change the route, not the goal, when a year goes badly. Move the milestones. Drop the goal only if the answer to "do I still want this?" is no.
For the cutting itself, how to break down a big goal into subgoals goes through it step by step, and the goal planner is a worksheet for it.
Track a long-term goal in your browser
GoalTracker holds this shape. Add the long-term goal as a goal, add each milestone as a subgoal with a due date, and add the small steps under each milestone. The progress bar fills as you check steps off, so a goal that takes three years still shows movement this week. It is free, needs no account, and keeps your goals in your browser.
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