It is the end of the year and I have sat down and evaluated how well I have done on meeting the goals I set at the beginning of the year. I confess, I have been sidelined a lot this year with multiple illnesses. But illness aside, I still struggle completing my goals. I wonder if most people are like me? So that got me to thinking. Why don’t we meet goals and how can we do a better job?
There are a multitude of articles published on why we don’t meet goals and how to achieve them. According to a research by the University of Stanton, 92% of people do not meet their New Year resolutions. I am going to try to do a brief summary of the ones that apply most to me–and maybe to you also.
- We are setting the wrong goals. Not only do our goals need to line up with our values, but they also need to be goals that will enhance our lives when they are met. If the goals are not reflective of our values or our ability to achieve them, then we may set ourselves up for failure. Chris Porteous, CEO of Grey Smoke Media, has the following to say: “You’re picking the wrong type of goals if they are: Not in line with your life goals; Aren’t motivating or inspiring; Too big and overwhelming, Unrealistic”1
- We need to identify why we are setting the goal and what will happen if we do not achieve it. If I am setting a goal to get healthy, that is an admirable goal. But in setting that goal it also helps to define what will happen if I meet it, and what will happen if I do not. An on-line article in Wanderlust Worker had this to say: “Things like love, family, country, freedom and security are compelling reasons. But you have to state just what those reasons mean to you if you don’t want to fail to achieve your goals. When you state what it means to you, and it’s deep-rooted enough into who you are, your determination won’t waver, and you’ll end up seeing things through.2 If you lose sight of why you have set your goal, it is easier to end up not completing it.
- We need to identify the actions needed to accomplish the goal and define the necessary steps to achieve it. Identifying a goal is great, but it helps to break it down into pieces to see the steps needed to have a strong finish. Failure to focus on these steps often leads to frustration because it is more difficult to reach the goal than anticipated. Sometimes you will fail but remember to keep striving toward your goal. Winston Churchill said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
- We make excuses as to why we do not accomplish our goals–it is not convenient, there is not enough time, we are too busy, The fact is for most individuals, life is busy. We need to evaluate what things are important and what things are expendable to help us meet our goals.
- We have a fear of failure. For many individuals, a fear of failure holds them back from pursuing their goals. This is especially true for the perfectionist who thinks it must be done perfectly or not done at all. Any successful person can also tell you of their failures. If you learn to look at failure as a learning opportunity, it can be a positive outcome for your goal setting.
- We do not anticipate the potential obstacles and the hard work. The soccer star Pelé said, “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” Sometimes it takes all of our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual energy to put in the work to have a successful completion of our goal. If you know that going into the process, it helps immensely.
There are so many other things that can obstruct us from completing our goals; failure to set deadlines, listening to negative voices (ours and others), lack of focus, procrastination, and established bad habits. But the fact of the matter is, we need to have a desire to see our goal to completion for the right reasons in order to succeed.
The most important goal to me is my spiritual life. It is the one goal I always take seriously and each year I become more focused on my desire to serve God and grow in maturity of my faith. “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.“– Philippians 3:14.
So here is to a New Year and new opportunities to improve our lives by developing positive habits for the right reasons. So, make your spiritual, physical, and mental goals for the coming year. Even if you get side-tracked, you can always come back to them.
1https://www.lifehack.org/880259/why-we-fail-to-achieve-our-goals.
2https://www.wanderlustworker.com/5-reasons-why-we-fail-to-achieve-our-goals/
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash