Long-term, Intermediate Short-term Goals; the ‘Divide and Conquer’ Principle;
and the ‘To-do-list’…

Long-term Goals

Long-term goals are your dreams. The reason you are studying today has to be linked to some dream about how you want to spend your life. It is usually a career goal – something that will last much of your adult life. What vision of your life really grabs your imagination?  Imagine your life ten years from now. What do you want to be doing?

Intermediate (in between) Goals

Intermediate goals are usually for three to five years in the future and are one of the keys to achieving your long-term goals. For example, if you want to be an interpreter, then a necessary intermediate goal would be to master the required languages in the first place.

Short-term Goals

The steps toward your intermediate goal are a series of short-term goals, usually for six months to 2 years in the future.
Immediate Goals
You cannot master languages if you do not get today’s homework assignment completed to the very best of your ability. Immediate goals are those that lead to the accomplishment of short-term goals. This is where the principle of “divide and conquer” comes into play most strongly.

Divide & Conquer

Whenever you are faced with what seems to be too much work, take each big task and break it down into (divide it into) smaller pieces.  If those pieces still seem too big, then break those down too.  Keep doing that until you have a long list of tasks (things to do) – each of which you could start now and finish in an hour or even half an hour. This will help you to get the job done now. It will also help you see real progress and make you feel more in control of your situation.

A ‘To-do List’

When you write down your immediate goals (and please remember that you must always write down your goals), and put them in priority order (the order of importance), then you have created a ‘to-do list’ for today’s study. Every ‘immediate (study) goal’ that becomes part of your ‘to-do list’ must be -
• Specific (exact – not “do some studying”, but “to understand and be able to use 5 new English words”)
• Reasonable (something that can be done in 30 to 60 minutes)
• Verifiable (something that can be measured – you can tell when you’re finished)
• Rewarded (watching a little TV or a walk in the park – but finishing the task is the best reward)

Remember this. If you have work to do that you know is important to your goals then:

“just do it and do it now!”