In a word, Yes!
Although from a recent study only 8 percent of people achieve their goals and here are 5 reasons why you may not be achieving your goals.
1. Lack of purpose
My father is a karate champion and coach and in a recent conversation informed me that he tells his students not to be worried about death. I thought this was a little morbid, until he explained that he was teaching his students ‘not to walk with fear’, as fear holds us back from our achievements. His logic was when his students accept that one day, they are going to die, as we all are, why wait? What are you waiting for to begin doing that thing you are dreaming of? Quite a simple and wonderful way of looking at things.
This mirrors the concept of having a clear purpose. If you recognise that you are only here for a short time, but the difference you can make could be positive and last much longer. Your goals will help you to live your purpose. Certainly not contradict them.
In terms of deciding your goals, a useful exercise is to right down all of the goals that come into your head, no matter how outlandish. Once you have them all listed, then you can evaluate them. You can determine how important each goal really is to you and whether it serves your purpose. If you deem it to be unimportant, it should be deleted and added to a list that you can consider again in the future.
2. You cannot remember why
Most of our goals are medium and long term and it is so easy to get wrapped up in our day to day lives that we forget why we set them in the first place.
Understanding why you want to achieve something is a fundamental step in setting goals, because it forms the basis of your motivation. When you visualise, yourself achieving the goal on those mornings you do not want to get out of bed, this will be the difference between taking that first step or pulling the duvet higher over your head.
Once you have a goal write down every possible benefit that you will experience upon completion of the goal. Ask yourself why you want to make this change and answer it as honestly as possible. This list should be close to hand and read it at least once a week. Is it any surprise that people who have their goals on their walls and see them every day stand more of a chance of succeeding? Where are your goals and how do you ensure you see them as often as you need to?
3. You take on too much
It’s easy to get excited by goals and you end up spending energy all over the place. Rather than getting a lot done on a small amount of goals, you will be getting a little down on a large amount of goals. The end result will be burnout and stress. It is best to focus on a small number of goals and as you reach one goal, add another in its place? Or find what works for you. Personally, I enjoy the mayhem and excitement of achieving goals. I also enjoy the relaxation and reflection to go again. What is your style?
Most goals will require the completion of many tasks and you may not be talented in all of them. Rather than wasting time trying to do something you are not good at, could you find someone who is better suited to the task. Delegation and outsourcing are your friends, if you want to succeed you need to make use of them.
4. Focussing on what you do not want to do
Most people can tell you what they do not want, but successful people will always tell you what they want. Knowing that you don’t want to remain in the job you currently have is good, but it does not tell you what you want. You will struggle to reach your goals if you do not know what the end result looks like.
Knowing what you want also gives you a sense of direction and helps you to remain positive until you reach your goal. Focusing on negativity often leads to a loss of confidence. It’s like when you are in a job you hate, focusing on that rather than the wonderful new job you are going to get is not helpful.
5. Overwhelmed
Many people fail to take the necessary steps to achieve the goals because of a sense of overwhelm. The goal appears too large and too difficult to achieve. They may be lacking in some skill to achieve the goal.
When you are overwhelmed, it is easy to doubt your abilities. However, you are making a major and common mistake here. You are evaluating a future date with your current circumstances. When you do this, you are completely ignoring the fact that with time you will grow, lean new skills and improve your current knowledge and skill levels.
With proper planning and support it is possible to achieve more than your thought possible. Break your goals down in to sub goals and daily actions that will get you closer to the end result. And as part of this process, you can identify the knowledge and skills you need to gain and set sub goals to achieve them.
Once you have done this you can focus on the sub goal rather than constantly looking at the bigger goal. This will reduce your sense of feeling overwhelmed and increase your confidence.
At Kinetic we love empowering high achievers to achieve more, and for more information on how we can support you to build the career and life you want, feel free to contact us.