As the new year approaches, most people do a self- evaluation test, to see what exactly they were able to achieve among their set targets. While some may be excited about their achievements, many will continue to sulk in disappointment, not knowing how time elapsed on them as they continued to hope for the best.
Success is a journey, not a destination to be reached. People’s desires and priorities in life continue to change. Every person has his/her vision of what success looks like to them, and these ideas and preferences differ from one person to another. Without taking specific measures and remaining focused on your goals, you are deemed to fail again.
There is a big difference between dreams and goals. Goals are specific and timely. They have undergone the process of goal setting and are closer to reality than ideas.
The Main Reasons Stopping You From Achieving Your Goals
The formula to achieving any goals is; know what you want to meet, follow it with a set of actions, be conscious of the results you are getting and if you are not getting what you want, have the flexibility to change your actions.
This process is not as easy as it sounds. It requires persistence and commitment, to ensure that you avoid these seven deadly sins of goal setting.
1. Not Writing Down goals
You must have heard of the old saying that out of sight out of mind. When you do not have well written down goals and the set of actions you intend to initiate, there is a likely hood that you will lose focus and divert your attention to other things that are not of importance to you.
2. Having Goals That are Not Inspiring
The things you wish to achieve in life must be inspiring so that you do not give up on them too soon. They should be important to you and making them should be of benefit not only to you but to the world. If you do not have enough reasons for being successful, then you will hang somewhere in the process and procrastinate.
Being rich or wealthy is the dream of many people, but without enough evidence of why they want to be wealthy is a reason for them not to get there.
The goals you choose to commit yourself to should be practical. They should have realistic deadlines and the required resources put into consideration. Some goals may need developing a new skill or change of habits which may be time-consuming.
Achieving meaningful goals will usually require more time than you may be willing to give them.
4. Not Having An Effective Plan
Having goals in writing is only the introduction section of your greater life story. It is a well-considered action plan that directs you towards arriving at the final scene or chapter. The goals that you set will become your final destination, and the action plans which you create will become the map that will allow you to get there.
Every successful mission has had a well thought out plan attached to it. Invest time into planning this journey so you can take the best route and get there in the best possible time.
5. Not Taking Appropriate Action
Having a perfect set of goals for your life will be useless if you do not follow them with action. Although your plan will guide you and keep you right on what to do, you’re still the one that has to take action. These aims and strategies will also be prone to change as you move forward in life, and come across roadblocks, challenges, and detours.
Sometimes, your life will even change its course, which is common for everyone so, don’t be concerned if you need to make changes as you go or even start the goal-setting process all over again.
6. Losing Focus
Successfully achieving your goals will require maximum focus, commitment, and patience. Sometimes you might miss this focus, but it’s important not to quit, as this is the only life that you will ever have. To help keep you focused, try enlisting a trusted friend, life-coach or personal mentor to support you throughout the process.
You can share your successes and failures with them, and learn from the experiences you encounter along the way.
7. No Follow-through
Goal setting is a lifetime process. Even with the most actionable plans, it is pointless having a set of personalized goals, if it just sits in your drawer gathering dust and doing nothing. Your goals and action plan is your map to a meaningful future, it’s your guide for living and should frequently be referred to as this will ensure that you keep heading in the right direction.
Our priorities and goals change as we progress our way through life. When this happens, it’s vital that you stop, reflect and consider going through the whole goal setting process again. Doing this ensures that your goals still have the proper meaning attached to them as what they did when you first set them.
And, as long as the meaning attached to your goals remains the same, they will continue to act as the driving force that powers your actions and behaviors.
Conclusion
It’s natural that if you do nothing, nothing will happen, if you take minimal action, the outcome will be as minimal, however, if you take massive action, then you will be rewarded with great results.
Successful people who go from mediocre to millions; know that the key to their success is in the actions they take. If you want to become successful, you must start now. Most beginnings are humble and look insignificant and trivial, but in reality, they are tremendously important. ‘Remember, you measure a real decision by the fact that you’ve taken new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided. ‘Anthony Robbins. If you applied massive action to what you learn, it would have a faster impact on our lives. Look out for these seven barriers that will cost you opportunities in the New Year.