Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future, and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality. The process of setting goals helps you choose where you want to go in life.
Struggling with goal-setting? Consider if any of these 4 things that can keep you from goal-setting success are hindering your success:
Biting Off More Than You Can Chew
One of the biggest reasons I was a goal-setting failure for so long was because I would set these gigantic and impossible goals. It’s better to set microscopic goals and actually make some good headway on them, than to set goals that are so far out of your reach that you give up before you even take a step in the right direction.
When considering your goals, be very realistic–especially if you’re new to goal-setting. Don’t create an enormous and impossibly long. Stick with a few simple and achievable goals and break them down into bite-sized pieces.
As you become more experienced in goal-setting, you can set your sights higher. But when you’re first starting out, keep it simple and doable. Your success at simple goals will give you momentum to attempt more audacious goals later on down the road.
Fear of Failure
If you’ve failed at goal-setting in the past, it’s easy to convince yourself it’s not even worth trying again because you’ll probably just fail yet another time. Do not let the fear of failure keep you from taking the first step in the direction of success.Even if you do end up stumbling and falling and struggling, you’ll still be much farther along than if you never started at all.
Remove sentences that start with, “I can’t…” and “I’m not good enough…” from your vocabulary. These words will never set you up for success, they’ll just trap you in defeatism
Don’t compare yourself to others. Instead, celebrate your progress and success–even if it seems barely measurable. Stay focused and positive; you can do it!
Lack of Discipline
Setting small goals and having a positive attitude will help propel you toward goal-setting success. However, if you do those things, but you don’t have the discipline to follow through with your goals, you’ll never get very far.
You are only guaranteed success in goal-setting if you have the discipline, perseverance, and commitment to follow through with your goals.
Lack of Accountability
Accountability is the key to discipline. Write your goals out, break them down into bite-sized pieces, post them in a very conspicuous location, and review them on a daily basis.
I’ve found that it’s helpful to review my yearly goals list when making my weekly goals list and my daily to-do list. This keeps me on track and reminds what I need to do this week and today to get where I hope to be at the end of the year.
I also recommend finding an accountability partner to check up with you on a regular basis and see how you’re doing. Not only can they serve as a cheerleader to keep you moving in the right direction, they can help you get back on track if you start veering off course.
Thanks as always for reading. If you have any tips, or strategies of your own that have helped you with goal setting, share them in the comments below! And feel free to SHARE this list with your followers on Facebook & Pinterest!
To your success,
