There’s a saying that a New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. I think we can all relate to that notion to some degree. Now with several weeks of the New Year under our belt, the trendy appeal of setting a New Year’s resolution has worn off and the first taste of reality has set in.
How’s it going?
Maybe you’re still hanging in there strong or maybe you’re already starting to slip. Maybe you just never bothered to make a resolution to begin with because you know the result is always the same. Regardless of the current state of your New Year’s resolution, we have all set goals and had them fail. What I want to examine a bit further is the “why” behind this common scenario. Here are 5 reasons why we don’t keep the goals we’ve set.
1. Failing to identify clear goals
One of the most common reasons we fail to keep the goals we’ve set is because we really don’t know what our goals are in the first place. Be overly specific. Quantify your goals, if possible. Be clear on what you’re achieving and why it’s important to achieve it. Finally, set real deadlines for milestones within that goal to make each step more manageable. Remember, you can always alter the parameters of your goal at any time (and you should as you make progress). What’s most important is that you are quite clear on what it is you’re trying to achieve. This leaves less room for failure due to confusion.
2. Confusing planning with progress
One of the biggest mistakes of goal setting is thinking that planning to do something is actually accomplishing anything. We’ve all been there. We have the best of intentions to reach a goal and exert a lot of effort into mapping out our road to success. We’re proud with our work, pat ourselves on the back and then forget the most important part – to turn the plans into action! Planning is one step toward progress, but even the best plans will never materialize into anything more than a dream until we put them into motion. Don’t congratulate yourself too much on great plans for success; the hardest part is yet to come.
3. Lacking accountability
Goals are much more effective and “real” when we know someone else is counting on us to reach them. Without accountability, it’s easy to fall off track. Sometimes we’re simply too easy on ourselves and lack someone or something else to make us hang in there. You can build in accountability by working alongside a partner who wants to achieve a similar goal, logging your progress into an app or spreadsheet to make your progress visual or working with a mentor – even if that’s as informal as a friend or family member. Accountability makes us answer to someone more than ourselves and gives us additional motivation to succeed.
4. Leaving failure as an option
To successfully reach your goals, you must fully, mentally commit to them. Many people think they do this, yet still allow themselves a way “out” through failure. Don’t let this be an option. Instead, always have an alternative goal in mind. For example, maybe you wanted to lose 10 pounds in 2 months, but have slipped off track. Rather than saying “Oh well!” and diving into a bucket of ice cream, adjust your goal to lose 7 pounds in 2 months. Goals change just as life changes. If you have to alter the target you were originally aiming for, there’s no shame in that – hey, maybe you’ll even make it a little more challenging overall. Just don’t stop cold, always keep progressing forward.
5. Forgetting the consequences
So often we fall off the wagon not because we forget the benefits of achieving our goal, but because we forget the consequences of failure. Sure it sounds nice to have a goal of growing your business by 50 percent; what entrepreneur wouldn’t want to do this? Seeing the benefits is the easy part. The more critical component that is often overlooked is the repercussions of not reaching your goal. Maybe this business growth is a necessary lifeline for saving jobs or putting food on your table. If you don’t achieve it, you’ll be forced to find a new job or layoff employees that you value and trust. Whatever the consequences, make them real. This will turn on your survival mode and tap into an even stronger will to succeed.
To sum it all up, the process toward reaching a goal is long and winding. Thinking that it’s going to be anything easier is the first common mistake we make. It takes planning, commitment and accountability to be truly successful. Even more importantly, it takes a strong desire from within to get across the finish line. Constant motivation and encouragement from others is not sustainable for long-term success. We must find our own fire and use it as fuel during the most trying moments.
What are some of the reasons you’ve identified for not being able to keep the goals you’ve set?
