Tony Robbins once said, “people over estimate what they can do in one year, and underestimate what they can do in two or three decades.” And in case we feel tempted to dismiss Tony, and keep our vision short term, Bill Gates says it too: “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.”
What are these two thought leaders talking about, and how can this wisdom be applied to content marketing? A practical way to think about these two powerful statements is in terms of short term and long term goals. The way you structure your short term and long term goals will steer your business, your content marketing strategies, and your financing.
What Are Short Term Goals?
Short term goals are those that can be completed within one year or less. Often times, people have 90 day goals, which breaks the year up into tidy quarters. You should only set short term goals once you have your long term goals in place.
What Are Long Term Goals?
Long term goals are generally thought of as benchmarks that you hope to reach in five to thirty years. This might seem like an incredibly long time, but this long term vision is what allows you to think big and move in the right direction.
Why Do I Need Long Term Goals For My Content Marketing?
Your content marketing will be the body of work that builds up your presence in the public eye. You can think of your content marketing almost like a brick house. Every brick that you add to the house is contributing to the structure as a whole.
This brings up the idea of pillar posts. Every house needs a frame, right? Your content marketing should have a few “pillars” in it that provide the structure to your body of work. When you set long term goals, you begin to think about where you want to be in five to thirty years. This will help you devise the structure of your content marketing in a way that will hold up over the years and contribute to your success. If you only think about the short term, you will end up creating a structure that doesn’t contribute to your future success.
Why Do I Need Long Term Goals For My Financing?
If you have a small business, but only think in terms of one or two years, you are missing out on the big picture, and you won’t have a plan for long term growth. Even small, short term small business loans should be applied to your business in a way that contributes to long term growth.
Narin Charan, founder of Capital Alliance, says that he and his team are committed to lending to small businesses with an aim at “long term success”. Infusing your business with capital should ultimately contribute to your long term success.
When you think about your long term success, and long term goals, you can see that this will direct the money that you borrow in a unique way. Even if you spend borrowed capital on a short term item, like marketing for one upcoming promotion, you need to be clear on how that promotion and those new customers will contribute to the business ten or twenty years down the road.
Though it might seem almost impossible to think about what your goals are for ten years down the line, it is a worth while exercise. Grab a pen and paper and try it for yourself. Where do you see your business in ten years? How about twenty? Set some long term goals. Your short term goals should contribute to this long term picture. If you simply use short term goals, without knowing the big picture, you’ll be creating content in a way that might not support you in the future.