How do you stick to your long-term goals?

Stop making plans and just do the right thing (whatever you deem that to be) right now. Don't worry about doing the right thing 5 minutes from now, just do the right thing this very moment. Go take out the trash, foo! Then just keep doing that. Easy peasy! :-P

It is possible to have too many things on your plate. Cut down on your list of to-do's. And maybe refine your timeline. Long term might mean 1month whilst you get into your stream and short term could be 24hrs. Once you begin to accomplish your mini-tasks, you can then move on to establishing some more concrete goals. Accountability has already been mentioned and you might find a site like 43things.com useful in the early stages of goal setting. So to recap, break your goals down in smaller chunks. Instead of protracting the life-span of your goals impose shorter time scales. Don't over-reach, build up as your confidence grows. Find others with the same desire. Reflect on your progress, or lack of, in writing or through another means as this allows you to see what is or not working for you. I guess I should add the carrot or stick approach but I don't really follow it myself, however I do have a reward element when i achieve certain milestones but never take punitive action when I do not. If at first you don't succeed, try and try again!

Maybe drive yourself to become interested in what you are supposed to be studying? Challenge yourself to be intrigued by calculus or marketing 101 or whatever. Use wikipedia to find interesting stuff about your class material.

Perhaps use the short-term tempting activities as rewards for working on the "should do" activities. Set the bar low on the reward structure--e.g., five minutes on work gets you 15 minutes on your Wii. Increase to appropriate ratios as you succeed at the small goals. I also find setting a loud timer across the room is useful for actually making me stop the breaks because I have to get up and physically separate from whatever I'm doing during the break that is appealing.

I've been finding that studying is easier when I try to do it in the little chunks of time I have during my day -- on the bus ride to work, during lunch, while waiting for a class to start. In the evenings or weekends when I have long stretches of time I really want to flop onto the couch with a novel, so I try to keep those long stretches free by cramming in as much as I can during the weekday. Plus, paradoxically, "I'm going to go over this material for a half-hour at lunch" seems much more manageable than "I have four hours to get this done." As for long-term changes in general, I think it's important to start slow. Don't expect to change your entire diet, budget, or study habits all at once (let alone all three!!!); just add in one or two good habits, live with them for a week, then if they're working for you, add in one or two more for the next week. And, if they're not working for you, examine why and figure out how you can change the habit so that it fits your life better (or discard it completely if it's just not gonna happen).

Go offline.

I have the exact same problem. I am always making elaborate lists and plans instead of taking action. I get distracted by lots of interesting things online and new projects in place of working on my longer term goals. Sometimes I wonder if I am just interested in too many different things. To maintain sight of your long term goals, I suggest writing down your priorities- maybe once a week - in order to stay focused on the things that do matter most to you in the long run. Don't take longer than a minute to do this - the point is just to reinforce your ultimate goals in your head. Then think of a small step (a short term goal) that you can do today that will take you closer to the long term goal. I have also found that it helps to simply make it your goal for the day to do something productive. Get one thing accomplished before you get immersed in any distractions. It is also very effective to have another person to help you get things done - like someone to meet at the library to do homework with (someone who won't be too chatty), or someone who wants to eat more healthy or wants to stick to a budget like you do. This makes you accountable to someone besides yourself.

HALF of me.

I'm trying not to be judgmental here and I 'm not sure it's working. Have of me says "for pity's sake, grow up" and half of me is looking for solutions. On the assumption that your own mother is providing the guilt-inducing nag, I'll try a solution. You are defining "long term goal" too narrowly. Perhaps for you,it would be better to define long term as, for instance, 24 hours. I am not being facetious. Rather than have a vague, life-empowering goal (music swells here) of "stick to the budget," "eat more healthily," "graduate with honors" (or maybe just "graduate" LOL) you should set the goal of "buy the groceries first," "finish dinner, then eat the candy bar," "do today's homework" etc. Meeting these closer-term milestones will eventually lead to the long-term success you desire. If you like to do what's directly in front of you, as opposed to down the pike, then just put the necessary things directly in front of you first. Also, choose the goals that really get you where you want to go. If living on junk food while in college (grad school?) works for you, then screw the healthy eating. I'd focus on the school work and eat what makes you happy (or at least what doesn't add to your burden). I graduated college just fine, despite the many dinners that consisted of a bag of oreos. And yeah, cutting down on the distractions online would probably be a good idea (althought I for one would miss you, as you often call me on my sloppy thnking here on MeFi).