It is hard to believe that Friday will be upon us...and also is April Fool's Day!!! So on that note, let us get back to our No Nonsense Guide to Setting and Achieving Your Goals. In Part 2 I discussed 5 reasons why you need goals, and today, I will continue with reasons why goals fail. As I have stated previously, this wedding officiant has to have goals in order to succeed, and to keep my schedule on track. I hope you are enjoying our blog post thus far, and as always, feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Why Goals Fail
“Obstacles are those
frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” ~ Henry Ford
Now that you know why you need goals, setting the right ones
and meeting them can be somewhat of a problem. More often than not we fail to
meet some of the goals we set for ourselves. There are several major reasons
for this.
·
Vague
goals that lead to setting the wrong priorities. Sometimes you manage to
find time to do things that don’t add any value to your life and aren’t
relevant to your goals. You might have a goal to write a book within a year.
Instead of writing to reach that goal, you work on other stuff like getting
pulled into Facebook or chatting on forums about something else. If the goal
is important enough for you, make it a priority to work on it.
·
Listening
to the wrong people. Often we associate with those who steer us in the
wrong direction for whatever reason. It could be they are afraid you will leave
them if you succeed. Or maybe they are jealous of your ambition.
·
Our own selfish
acts keep us from achieving our goals. Selfish acts such as not being
willing to change a bad habit or thinking we deserve something without having
to do the work.
·
We
procrastinate. We make excuses. Lots of excuses (Don't feel bad, this wedding officiant has done this several times in my life!!!). It seems it’s easier to
come up with an excuse than a reason why we need to be doing something. We’ve
all made them. They range from not having enough time to the full moon. We’d
rather watch TV or put off doing something because it’s easier than tackling
our goals. Excuses are just that: excuses and they keep you at a standstill. Excuses
often come about when we are afraid or uncertain of the outcome or the next
step or what people will think. Or they happen when we are feeling lazy. We
just don’t want to get out of our comfort zone and tackle what needs to be done
to move us toward our goal.
·
Negative
thoughts and fears. We grow our fears larger than we think of our
abilities. Fear of failure (or success) kills dreams before they get to the
first step. It’s often that we believe things won’t work out (or if they do,
what will change), and this keeps us from working on our goals.
Fear robs
you of self-confidence. It allows you to come up with reasons (excuses) why you
can’t accomplish your goals.
·
Lack
higher purpose. Your “WHY” is weak. You have to know what your goal means
to you and why you set it. Are you chasing after something because it’s
expected of you or to keep up with your peers? If you set
a goal for the wrong reason and spend time chasing after things you really
don’t want, you lose your motivation to continue. You aren’t committed to them
enough to achieve them and end up wasting time, money and energy. Instead
figure out your “WHY” before you set your goals.
·
Working
on too many things at once. Trying to do many different things spreads your
attention too thin. It can keep us from developing our skills and expertise in
an area we would thrive and be passionate about.
You need to discover
what you are really good at and most driven to achieve and focus on it. Set
goals to achieve success at that before you move on to something else.
·
Not
having a plan. As the saying goes when you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Having a plan is an essential part of reaching your goals. It’s the road map
that gets you from point A to point B. Ask yourself how you plan to achieve
your goal and what actions you need to take. Then use the answers to make a
plan. A plan is
the steps you need to take to reach your goal. Use these to set your priorities
for what you need to do and when you need to do each step.
·
Not
responsible and lack of commitment to the goal. This is kind of like
knowing what your “why” is. We’ve all done it. We start a diet with good
intentions on Monday but by the end of the week we begin to cheat until we are
completely off track. You need to
be fully committed to your goal to follow through. Excuses, friends and those
donuts will always pop up when you least expect them to derail you or cause you
to put off your goals.
·
Bad
habits derail you. You have a habit of giving up when the going gets tough.
It’s easier to just quit than to work through problems. Your goal
may require you to change the way you eat or to exercise more or work harder or
put yourself in front of others. It’s easier to grab a bag of chips and sit on
the couch or to pass the work on to someone else. Changing your bad habits is a
necessary step in achieving your goals.
There are many reasons we seem to fail at goals. One of the
biggest, of course, is the failure to set goals in the first place. Even an
informal goal is better than none at all. Lack of action and following through
on your goals often comes from fear. Recognizing your fear and committing to
working through it will go a long way in reaching your goals.
OK, stay tuned for Part 4 when I discuss how to successfully set your goals...
Blessings,
Dr. Anna Mock-Ward
Officiate My Wedding by Dr. Anna Mock-Ward; a Subdivision of Wisdom Heart Ministry
No comments:
Post a Comment