Achieving Long Term Goals with Productivity via Spring Cleaning

Achieving Long Term Goals with Productivity via Spring Cleaning

For the month of March, I will be diving into current events and how these real life stories are inline with productivity! From appearances, they might not seem so, but trust me! We can all learn a bit of productivity from them!

This week I would like to highlight two articles that are very similar in nature, but also in productivity! These two stories highlight the importance of having long term goals in mind when coordinating present day in order to be the most productive.

Productivity & Long-Term Goals

I know it is hard to have concrete long term goals. But, I don’t want you to think concrete. I want you to think in general, what is the overall umbrella of your long term goals?

One of the easiest example I can provide is learning a new language and working in an office abroad. Let me create the situation:

You don’t speak this new language yet and you don’t have prior experiencing working or even living abroad (which is fine, but we have to start somewhere!)

The thought process shouldn’t be:

“I want to work for (insert any major international company) in (insert name of foreign office location) running that country’s operations in that language.”

It is very specific and it could be, depending on your specific resume, a bit unrealistic. I always promote setting realistic goals as it helps with motivation when you complete them! Setting unrealistic ones can cause you to feel overwhelmed and unmotivated, which is the opposite of being productive!

So, instead, the thought process should be:

“I want to be able to converse in the foreign language and work in a country that speaks that language.”

This is more broad and can definitely be more realistic.

Learning a language can be difficult and takes time and effort. Plus, you will need to apply for companies that have international offices or that are abroad. This can also take time and definitely a lot of effort. However, with this long term goal, it is much more consumable.

So, when you achieved this broad goal and have language and abroad experience on your resume, then you can switch to being more specific with a major international company, etc.

Now, let me ask you: what are your long term goals? Are they realistic? Do you see clear smaller goals to reach them?

Smaller Goals to Achieve Long Term Goals

Now that you have put your long term goals on paper or spoken them out loud (if you haven’t yet, do that!), it is also good to look at the smaller goals, the steps you need to achieve to reach the long term goal.

Going back to my language and working abroad example, some smaller goals would be

• Take language classes

  • Take 3 hours a week

  • Take 8 hours a week

• Live abroad in that country for a few months (maybe a year)

• Volunteer in that language (to achieve resume experience as well as practicing the language)

• Start applying for visas (if necessary)

• Start applying for jobs

  • Apply to 3 jobs a week

  • Apply to 5 jobs a week

You might also find that there are even smaller goals or steps like starting with 3 hours of language classes then moving to 5 hours, etc.

Take some time to write out your “roadmap.” What is the long term goal and work backwards. Make sure to include the medium goals and the smaller goals. It should look like a pyramid.

Before you start, let’s look at some real life examples!

Productivity Examples in Current Event Stories

As mentioned, I have two stories that are similar in nature because they have to do with…nature!

Planting Trees over 50 Years

The first article dives into the Beinn Eighe National Nature Reserve (NNR) in the United Kingdom. The Reserve was founded in 1951 and since then it is estimated that the staff has expanded the woodland area by 41% by planting trees almost every year.

Let’s look at their goals and their steps:

• Their long term goal was to expand the Reserve in order to protect nature and the wildlife that live in that area.

• Their smaller goal was to plant trees almost every year

This year, 2022, will be the last year of “human” growth with the goal of another 20,000 trees planted. Their new long term goal is that the Reserve will continue to grow naturally.

As you can imagine, planting about 20,000 trees every year over 50 years requires a lot of work and patience. This is why having a broader long term goal and smaller goals – all that are realistic – is essential to achieving what you want.

We cannot jump to the long term goal right away – that for sure is not realistic! But, we can get there slowly and surely with our smaller goals!

Saving the Kiwis for Future Enjoyment

This second article is about a man in New Zealand who devoted his life (at least the last 50 years) to the kiwifruit. He started and grew his kiwifruit business from a family-worked company to a full-working farm.

However, his passion for the kiwifruit only became widely known when a virus/disease started attacking the kiwifruit in 2010

In order to protect the kiwifruit, he was determined to give them the best genetic chance by breeding the best with the best. Over several years, the kiwifruit’s genetics started to fight off this virus/disease.

The man acknowledges that viruses and diseases will not go away so it is always a proactive fight to protect the kiwifruit.

Let’s look at his long term and smaller goals:

• His first long term goal was to grow a kiwifruit business.

• His second long term goal, after achieving the first, was to protect the fruit via genetically breeding the best.

• The smaller goal was the act of breeding – finding the best pairs and helping them grow to then find the next best pairs.

• His third and current long term goal is to keep fighting against viruses and diseases.

This current event story is a perfect example of how, upon achieving one long term goal, a new one will appear and with that new smaller goals to accomplish.

Just because you have one long term goal now, doesn’t mean you won’t achieve it and have a second one!

Moving Forward with your Productivity