Have you ever set a goal and failed to achieve it?
I bet you have. In fact, everyone at some point has. It is not something to be ashamed of. It has happened to the best of men. However, many have overcome this by finding why they fail and creating systems to not only ensure winning but to make failing hard.
Failing to achieve your goals is not necessarily a lack of ability or skill. It is usually a lack of focus.
READ ALSO: How to Stop Procrastinating: Practical Steps That Work
Why You Fail to Achieve Your Goals
These are some of the reasons you fail to achieve your goals:
1. You're easily distracted
The easiest way to make someone lose sight of their goals is to distract them. Once you are distracted, everything starts becoming a priority. And your goals, which are the actual priorities, take the back seat. They become negotiable. Before you know it, you are already doing something that does not in any way relate to your goals.
2. The goals seem too big
Another reason you are failing to achieve your goals is because they seem too big.
Some goals are impossible to attempt in one jump. So that can easily discourage you. Because you would think, "if I cannot do it why even bother?"
3. There is no one to hold you accountable
When no one is reminding you of your goals, it is easy to give up on them. When no one knows about your goals, it is easy to act as if the goals were not real or they did not mean much in the first place, especially when they require a lot of dedication and discipline.
4. Your environment
This is a common problem in people who have failed to achieve their goals. Achieving your goal entails becoming a new person. But you cannot become a new person in an old environment. The old environment comes with old friends that can keep you in old lifestyles that can stop you from achieving your goals.
5. No plan for bad days
One major reason a lot of people do not achieve their goals is because they give up too fast. Something comes up, an inconvenience or emergency, and they just fold. But that is the exact moment they should have kept going. Because the real test of whether a goal is important to you is not what you do when the conditions are right but what you do when everything is against it.
How to Fix It
1. Focus
This is the first thing to do. Because failing to achieve your goals is not necessarily a lack of ability or skill, but usually a lack of focus. Cut down everything that is not helping you to achieve your goal.
Write them down where you can see them clearly. Somewhere you can easily revisit them. This way, your goals get ingrained in your brain. Only then can you live in a way that leads to their fulfillment.
2. Break them down into small chunks
No matter how huge a goal is, it can be broken down into simple steps that can be implemented. Some of these small chunks can be as simple as reaching out to five prospective clients daily, or doing just twenty push ups everyday. But the truth remains: no matter how big a goal is, you can achieve it by chipping at it piece by piece till the mountainous size crumbles.
3. Get accountability partners
You do not need a lot of people to know your goals. But you need the right people to be aware. Some of these people can be your most supportive friends, those with the same mindset of self development as you of course. They can also be your family.
4. Change your environment
To achieve your goals, you must leave your comfort zone. Mentally and physically. You must leave the place that is associated with your former self image and be willing to recreate yourself again. And that is the beautiful thing about changing environments: you can be whoever you want to be. That freedom is a major key in achieving your goals.
5. Plan for bad days and do not give up
No matter how many times you fail to achieve your goal, there is only one solution: restrategize and try again. Because whether you know it or not, there will always be moments when you fall below your mark. Because life has a way of interrupting our plans with no permission. Like failure, that is normal too. What should not be normal is accepting that is the end of that goal. Plan for what to do, how to do that on bad days and lastly, do not give up.
READ ALSO: How to Stop Overthinking: A Practical Guide
Final Thought
If you stick to these suggestions, it will not take you long to realize that though achieving your goals may not be easy, it is simple. It involves steps that when duly followed, will inevitably lead to success. The only problem lies in doing these simple steps over and over without being told to.
Achieving your goals may not be easy, but it is simple. Do the small steps again and again, even when no one is watching.
