Have you failed to reach your goals, but not sure why? Research shows that 92% of people fail to reach their goals. Failure to reach goals happens fast: 25% of people give up within the first week.
Here are reasons why people fail to reach their goals.
1. The goal is too vague
Let’s look at some of the most popular goals according to Reader’s Digest:
- Lose weight
- Save more, spend less
- Get organized
- Travel more
- Learn something new
See how easy it is to whip out a goal that is too vague? These goals all sound great in theory, but they don’t really mean anything.
For example, save more, spend less is nice, but how much are you going to save? Are you going to save a set amount monthly, or yearly? Or does that mean you’ll only buy items on clearance for 50% off? What are you even saving for? Are you saving for retirement, for a new car, or a vacation?
If you don’t have a clear, specific, and defined objective, then it is easy to fail, mostly because you don’t even really know what you’re trying to achieve in the first place.
2. There is no why
Often with goals, even if they’re specific, if they have no meaning, they’re worthless. To achieve goals, you need to make lifestyle changes, like waking up an extra thirty minutes early to workout. This isn’t easy and unless you have a specific reason when your alarm goes off to get out of bed and hit the gym, it will be very easy to press the snooze button.
Simon Sinek wrote the best-selling book, Start With Why. He found that people are not motivated by the “what’s,” in life, like exercise for 30 minutes in the morning. Or even the how, like do 20 minutes cardio, and ten minutes weightlifting.
Instead people are motivated with the why, or reason.
If you have a reason to get out of bed that is compelling and meaningful to you, then you’ll be more likely to follow-through.
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3. There is no deadline
Once you’ve reached adulthood, there is not structure or a set path. There isn’t the high school varsity team to make, with a defined four years to try out and make the team. To reach your goals you need to set your own personal deadlines.
If there isn’t a deadline, then force yourself to make a deadline.
For example, I’ve found that if I am out of shape and need to get back in shape, the best way to do it, is to commit to running a race. I’ve completed four marathons and a half marathon, and during that time, I worked out 5-6 days a week. Purchasing my race registration was the skin in the game for me to commit to training, because I knew the race day was coming up.
Paul Thiel, billionaire and founder of PayPal stated in CNBC, “take your 10-year life plan and ask, Why can’t I do this in six months?“
Find out what is holding you back from doing what you really want to do right now. We achieve objectives in the allocated time that we give ourselves.
4. There is a Plan B
When striving to reach your goals, it’s inevitable that you’ll reach roadblocks along the way. With the best intentions of reaching your goal, things don’t go as planned, and there are roadblocks that are outside of your control. Roadblocks don’t mean you should give up, it means you can try again for the same outcome in a new or improved way to reach that outcome.
Famous YouTuber, Lilly Singh in her book How to be a Bawse, stated that she has. “Plan A, Plan A 2.0, and Plan A 3.0.”
Keep with your plan, and goal. When curveballs come refine your goal, instead of trashing the goal altogether. Or in other words, get rid of your Plan B.
There are many reasons why people fail to reach their goals.
Make your goals happen by avoiding vague goals, know your why, have a deadline, and get rid of Plan B!
