5 Reasons Why GOALS are not achieved…

Working with individual clients or with businesses I often see that GOALS have been set. But in the words of the client they have failed to achieve them.

The 1st reason why GOALS are not achieved is that they are not realistic.

Personal or Business Goals need to be realistic. I do not mean easy or simple. You may want to run a marathon but have never run more that 100 yards for the last 5 years. Running a marathon would be a great goal but it would be unrealistic to think you could do it within 4 weeks. 100 yards to 26 miles is one mighty change in just 4 weeks.

The 2nd reason why GOALS are not achieved is that they are based on false will!

False will often happens after a few drinks with friends most often on New Years Eve. I am sure we have all said things such as; I am going to join a gym, I am going to stop drinking so much, I am going to eat better, I am going to stop smoking. Only to find that after a few days or maybe sometimes a few weeks we revert back to the same old habits. The reason for this is false will. There was really no intention to make the change.

The 3rd reason why GOALS are not achieved is that the reason for making the change is not strong enough.

Very often we give up on our goals when we meet the first hurdle that gets in the way. The hurdle may be that we feel a little tired after work and going to the gym might just be too much to handle, The hurdle may be that we have applied for a new job or promotion but the application form is just to burdensome to complete. The hurdle might be that we have decided to eat healthier food, but what a chore it is to chop that celery, make that soup and create that pasta sauce with fresh ingredients. It was so much easier popping that meal in the microwave or buying the takeaway. You see we all meet challenges, we all have winters and summers. The summers are easy everything goes well; the winters are when we are challenged. If our reason for making a change is not strong enough this is the time we will give up on our goals.

The 4th reason why GOALS are not achieved is that we do not make a decision.

Time and time again we say to ourselves ‘I have decided to’. It could be I have decided to change my job. I have decided to be a better parent. I have decided to take up cycling. I have decided to stop swearing. A few days later we have done nothing about the thing we decided to do. A decision is not a decision until we have taken some action. The action might be to ring a recruitment company, tell our kids we are going to listen more, visit a bike shop, tell you partner you are going to stop swearing or get or make a swear box.

The 5th reason why GOALS are not achieved is that we set our goals in the future not in the present.

I will lose 14lbs by the end of August. I am going to cycle 10 miles 3 times a week. One day if the sun shines and there is a trailing wind I will run that half marathon. Set you goal as though it has already happened. Doing this opens the pathways to the brain. Tell yourself you are the weight you want to be. I cycle 10 miles 3 times a week. I am a marathon runner. Take a lesson from Mohammed Ali. Did he say one day I will be the greatest? He said before, when, and after ‘I am the greatest’.