Describe a long-term goal you would like to achieve IELTS Cue Card

IELTS CUE CARD TOPIC

Describe a long-term goal you would like to achieve
You should say:

What the goal is
How long have you had this goal
How you would achieve it
And explain why you set this goal.

Sample 1

There is no denying this conviction that most people have goals.

Some of them are short-term, and some of them are long-term.

I have a long-term goal, and I’m striving hard to achieve that goal, which is to have a digital marketing company of my own.

I have had this goal for the last five years because I have seen the world going through a paradigm shift. A lot of career options are coming, and people are going beyond the conventional domain

to lead their lives toward an impressive growth trajectory.

So, digital marketing is a burgeoning field with a lot of potential.

People, especially corporates, are going towards this domain to market and sell their products, so I can think that by doing this, by having a business in this field, I can climb the ladder to success, and achieving it is not easy because first of all, I think first of all, there is a fierce competition.

Apart from this, I only have a few funds at my disposal. I have given myself a timeframe of three years, and within these three years from my current job, I’ll earn a lot of money and park the funds in that business to run it successfully.

I have set this goal because, in these three years, I’ll get heaps of experience. I’ll learn the tricks of the trade after I get my job and research how to do it. Moreover, most of my responsibilities will be complete by that time, so I’ll have enough confidence to take risks.

Sample 2

Although I have various long-term goals that I would like to pursue, one of them is close to my heart, and I would love to do it first. The goal is to open an NGO offering free education to underprivileged kids. I have had this dream and this goal since childhood because I lived in a city, and near my apartment, there was a slum area where I used to see small kids not getting any education. Most of them had not grown much in life and were not successful, and the reason for them not being successful was that they did not get a proper education.

I must do some things beyond the conventional domain to achieve my goal. First of all, it will require a boatload of funds, and to do that, I will pull some funds from my pocket, and for other funds, I will seek the support of my friends, my relatives, and the government.

I set this goal to help the poor people. The time frame is five years because that is the time I require to create the infrastructure, create the platform, and whatever payments we will get, we get through the digital platforms only, and to have such a setup requires a lot of expertise and a lot of time and a lot of funds. That is why I have given myself a time frame of five years, which is how I will achieve this goal.

Sample 3

I have many goals, but this one long-term goal for which I’m very serious is to have a house of my own because my family currently lives in rented accommodation. I have had this goal for the last five years, and achieving it would be daunting because I live in a city where real estate prices have risen tremendously, and getting a place to live is beyond my limits.

And to do so, I need to work hard. After passing my graduation, I’ll do a job for one or two years, and from that, I’ll arrange sufficient money to launch my startup; once my startup gets running, I will shell out some funds every month to build my dream house and I’ll take because at that time I’ll be having eligibility to take a home loan. So, I’ll also take a loan, and this is how I achieve this goal.

My brother will also help me. He has already started working for a company, and he has already started saving money. So, I have set this goal for five years; for the next five years, I’ll shift it from rented accommodation. I’ll be moving to my own house because I have many goals to accomplish, but due to this shifting process, we have to move into new accommodation after every one of the years.

It is difficult for me to make alterations in the house because the money parked goes to waste. That is why I want a home, which is my long-term dream.

Sample 4

Every person has different goals they want to achieve in the future. They start their businesses and get jobs in various fields. And I have one goal that I want to achieve. Since childhood, I have liked art, and I am perfect in art.

I want to start my own business in the future. I would draw portraits and upload them to my Instagram and YouTube channels in that business. It would get me likes and increase my subscribers, and if I got this opportunity, I would quickly start my studio and earn some money.

It will also help me fulfill my basic needs, which will help me achieve my dreams. I want to go on trips with my family, so I want to develop my village. It is a rural area in which I would like to add some facilities.

It will be fruitful for the upcoming generation and my village. That is the goal that I want to achieve in the future.

Follow-ups

Here are some examples of follow-up questions that the examiner might ask during your speaking part 3 related to the cue card “Describe a long-term goal you would like to achieve”.

1. Should parents set goals for children?

Parents setting goals for children is a prudent approach because, in the budding years, children do not have much mental development. Due to that, their chances of making wrong choices are very high. However, if they work at the parents’ ages and work on the goals set for them, they can move their careers towards an impressive growth trajectory.

2. When do young people start to set goals for themselves?

As the children’s age progresses to teenagers, they realize that the world is not like what is visible to them. There are some things beyond that. And to achieve what they want in their life, they should have goals. And following them, they can mark up on their journey. So that’s why they start setting goals for themselves because, at that age, they start

believing that if they regularly work on their aims and emissions, they can climb the ladder to success, and in case they do not do it, then they’ll remain at the same level.

3. What kind of goals could be more realistic?

Those goals beyond your physical and mental capabilities are unrealistic, and we should refrain from setting them. Weight loss is the prime example. Suppose you make a goal of losing 10 kgs in a month. In that case, that’s not a realistic goal because if you take drastic steps like doing a lot of exercises or eating too little food, that could lead to disastrous repercussions and affect your physical and mental health in the long run.

4. Why do people set goals?

The primary purpose of setting a goal is to design and follow a trajectory. When we do not set a goal, we are like a ship without a radar that is at the mercy of wind for its direction. Goals give us direction, and by pursuing that path, we can do what we wish.

5. What would you feel if you couldn’t achieve your goals?

Although I feel disheartened when I fail to achieve a goal, I still get inspiration from them because I realized that the way I wanted to do that was not visible. Hence, I should divert my attention to an alternate plan or an alternate goal so that I can achieve what I wish to achieve.