Why People Fail to Achieve Their Goals
We all want to achieve our dreams but the biggest mistake most people make is not planning out the specifics of what they need to do and goal setting is just that, a plan of action for you to follow. Without this it makes it very hard to find meaning, purpose or even inspiration with your efforts each day.
It will be very hard to find the motivation when you have no clue of where you are going or why you want to go there in the first place. The attitude and your behaviors you have towards something will be the reason you have passion to accomplish it completely. Goals are stepping stones to a bigger cause in life and should be defined clear enough to help us along our journey.
Having Only Long Term Goals
One of the biggest reasons why most people do not accomplish their goals is because they ONLY set long term or BIG goals. It is a positive to have huge ambition and to dream big but you need to set up the first steps to be able to get to those bigger ones.
When we only have the big goals in front of us to accomplish, it will discourage us on a day to day basis because we have no reward until we fulfill that big goal. It will be very dissatisfying when it has been years and we still have not even accomplished the only goal(s) we set out for ourselves. The motivation will drop versus when we have smaller goals also, we continuously have recognition that we are doing a great job by feeling accomplished in completing the short term goals. It gives us influence to continue when we have a reward to push forward always.
The other very important reason is because with a big goal we have no idea of the initial steps to take to be able to even get to there. We need smaller goals to take the first steps in where we need to go in order to accomplish the long ones. This will help us focus on one goal at a time and build on each success to push further.
Belief
Having a complete belief that you will accomplish your goal is such a valuable aspect in achieving what you set out to finish. If you for any reason to believe that what you are doing cannot be done, then your brain will find all the reasons to quit along the way.
What we can do to prevent this from happening is to embrace the possible challenges we may face with our goals and not discourage them. However, constantly filling yourself with ideas that will doubt the belief that it can be completed will definitely stop you along the way. Knowing what we could face and having the complete faith that it will be overcome is how we will knock out anything we come to face with.
How You Word Goals
Having goals that are not specific enough will make it tougher for you to actually find the steps to accomplish it. Another wording problem is when you write goals as something to avoid rather than what you want to work towards.
Not having enough details of how you should tackle each goal will bring down your productivity and thus motivation to continue on your path. If you have no clarity on what you should be doing, you will be super discouraged and eventually give up to go focus on something simpler that you can grasp in your mind.
Writing goals of what you should not do will be another discouraging way to accomplish what you need to. You want to be an optimist and have goals that are positive sounding with the outcome to match. This will give you complete motivation in the way you think of everything you do.
Results
Measuring the progress of how far you have come can often be motivating or discouraging, depending on how you look at it. Those who do not know how to measure the their work progress are almost doomed to fail.
Many people can be disillusioned by monetary profits to prove the results they are attaining or by only completing the long term goal they set for themselves. Measuring results should just be a gauge that you are on the right track to your long term results. If you are on the right pathway, this should be very encouraging and positive!! Improve any results you have had currently by setting new targets and those should be the motivation to feel optimistic of where you are currently.
Wasting time on irrelevant thoughts of not being as "accomplished" as you think you should be will only deter you from actually getting to where you want. Setting new small term goals all the time will help give you the recognition and reward of doing well, while still continuing on the path of your long term goal.
Dream big with your long term goals but do not forget to set the realistic small term goals that will keep you on the path to accomplish tasks day by day. The key it to stay motivated, be persistence, be resilient and feel rewarded through small accomplishments. That will keep our spirits up and the momentum moving forward!!
@bitdollar
Steemit Writer
My recent trip to Guatemala in Lake Atitlán
With failures, we learn my friend. With failures, we setup certain goals and we keep the discipline to achieve them. We all have to be very patient, specially with long term goals. Keep spreading the word and stay blessed my friend.
I have learned my most important lessons from failures and you are right we must keep the discipline to achieve. Thanks so much @javybar!!
I think the main reason we often fail is just a lack of persistence. From an evolutionary aspect, we are beings of instant gratification. To go for something that requires planning and time is to go again our own very nature. All we can do is remind us in each step to never give up, never give in, never back down :D
Your blog looks nice, I will keep a closer eye on it :D
I totally agree! I am glad I’ve failed so much in life because it taught me to keeping going and trying. After many attempts I am always mastering what was once very difficult. Persistence, determination and resilience is what I always preach.
Thanks for sharing and your kind comments @trumpman! Have a great day
Really liked how you stressed that there should be a balance of short term and long term goals. That is so important. I like the quote above how I myself do this is I write down all my goals so they are not just thoughts whirling around in my head with all my other thoughts. To me once it is on paper it is the first step to accomplishment. Then I set up a plan of action for the week (write it down in a journal). Then the most important is I do a personal inventory and I am really honest with myself if I did everything possible to get done be it goals, tasks, responsibilities etc. Self honesty I believe is a great way to also achieve and be the best version of yourself one day at a time. Thanks for sharing @bitdollar....appreciated.
Writing it on paper does make a massive difference. Same with me, once it’s on paper I almost always complete it.
Agree 100% also with self honestly. Great comment here!
I think sometimes I can be a "head in the clouds" person when I start something new. I have expectations that I will be successful at something and then I hit a couple stumbling blocks along the way and I lose interest. I have to say when I started here a couple weeks ago I was absolutely delusional that I was going to be successful right away. Now I am just taking it day by day, trying to see what steemit is all about and learning how to write content. Great post!
That is a great way to do it. As mentioned set short term daily goals that you need to hit and this will keep you much more motivated. So comments per day, posts per day, how you interact with others, quality of work, etc.
Fantastic post @bitdollar. So true! I tend to set smaller goals and work in increments towards them. Lately I've been planning the stages a little more in-depth, but I found doing it in more detail doesn't help me at all. I end up getting drowned in a sea full of tasks. Better to have a clear head and work forward in that mindset. Thanks for your motivational post :)
Yes working on incremental steps is so much easier because we have more clarity that way. Keeps an objective in our foresight that is usually the only thing we do need to focus on in that moment.
Thanks for sharing @oen!!
A word count goal, didn’t think about that. What are your goals and have you seen progress? Okay the challenge here is answer in haiku :) I have a comment goal
My goals here have definitely been achieving from commenting more, posting each day, improving my quality and building relationships with others. I see progress overtime for sure, sometimes we can’t see but must reevaluate to notice. Thanks @kubbyelizabeth!! Sorry I didn’t answer in haiku! Lol
Have a great day!
Lol, that’s okay. Sounds like great goals
Thanks :)
Like a lot of people, I've struggled with reaching my goals. The two things from this article that I'll re-double my efforts in, are setting smaller-term goals and truly believing that I can attain them. Great job on motivating us toward our goals.
Yes the small goals are so essential to attain our long big goals while rewarding and motivating us along the way.
Not having enough details of how you should tackle each goal will bring down your productivity and thus motivation to continue on your path. This is so true, if you don't have an insight of how to tackle each goals you will be discouraged and lose focus. Setting a goal is nice but don't place a goal that is high. Don't place a deadline on your goals also because when the time draws closer you will freak out and lose it
Perfectly put @tutufaith!!
I totally agree with you! Having long-term goals is very helpful but we must not forget that the ONLY way we're gonna reach them is by focusing on the now, thus setting small attainable goals.
Yes exactly that curves the path for our long term goals while keeping us rewarded and motivated.
great writing man... many people will inspired by you... 👍
Thank you