, here is a list of the 10 best ways that people don’t achieve their goals …
1. You don’t have a burning desire.
It’s just not important enough. You don’t have enough pain, or you don’t have enough of a burning desire to make it happen. Without enough burning desire, you won’t stay the course. You won’t create enough momentum. You won’t expend enough energy and focus to get over the humps and hurdles you’ll face along your path.
Part of what can hold you back here, is if you have an internal conflict. While you might like the idea of achieving your goal, something inside might tug at you that says it’s not what you really want, or it changes something in some way and causes a problems.
2. You don’t have models, mentors, or maps.
Without a model of success, you’re winging it. You take on the risk of trying to figure out what might work. This can wear you down, or you can lose heart, because you don’t know which, if any, of your efforts will bear fruit. If you have a model of success, somebody who has already achieved what you want, you can learn from what works. It also gives you confidence, because you have a living picture of what’s possible.
Without a mentor, you may not get the guidance or the feedback you need. Also, in my experience, mentors are among the best short-cuts. So if you’re looking to find a faster path, or you want to steer clear of potential pitfalls, that’s where the right mentor can really help.
Lastly, without a map, you can easily get lost along the way. Imagine trying to drive across the country, say from Washington to New Jersey, without a map. While you know the general direction to head, there is a lot of ground to cover, and the potential for a great deal of wrong turns, and dead ends. I’ve done the trip in two days, and five days. I never could have done the trip in 2 days, without a map. A map can be a simple list of the steps you need to take to get from point A to point B, whether you’re starting a workout routine, or learning an instrument, or shipping the next big thing.
In my experience, models, mentors, and maps are the key to achieving goals more effectively.
3. You have the wrong strategy.
You don’t have an effective strategy, or, worse, you have the wrong strategy.
Simply put, a strategy guides your tactics. Wikipedia says strategy is ““A high level plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty.” Personally, I like how Clayton Christensen puts it: “Strategy is what you invest in.”
Some people chase their dreams over a lifetime, but they use the wrong strategy. Maybe they put their nest egg in the wrong financial basket. Maybe they work and slave at the wrong thing. Maybe they try the wrong medical miracle or settle for the wrong treatment. Maybe they try the wrong diet or exercise program. How many people have climbed the corporate ladder only to find their ladder was up against the wrong wall?
It’s now wonder why Tony Robbins calls himself a strategist and why he invests in finding the best strategies for business and life. Strategies are the recipes for results. They are how you lose the battle, but win the war in the long run.
4. You do goal setting, but you don’t do goal planning.
This is where the bulk of people fall down. So many people do goal setting, but fail to do goal planning. In other words, they figure out the goals and what they want to achieve, but they don’t do the work to put a real plan in place.
This is the part where you figure out what do you actually need to do to achieve your goals. This is the part where you put in the effort to put a plan on paper of the steps you need to take, the resources you need, and the time you need to spend (it’s an investment.)
For example, it’s hard to learn guitar this year if you don’t make time for a weekly lesson. It’s hard to learn to tango if you don’t actually sign up for lessons, and go each week. It’s hard to achieve your fitness goals, if you don’t make time in the morning to actually do your workout.
5. You don’t add your goals to your schedule.
If you set new goals for this year, but you don’t change your schedule to reflect them, you won’t likely achieve them. Your schedule reflects your priorities far better than anything you ever tell people out loud or in your head.
How you spend your time is how you reflect your priorities.
For example, if you want to get in great shape this year, by thinking about it often, and imagining that the pounds melt away, that’s far less effective than working out each morning from 6:00 to 6:30 AM with a program that works for you.
6. You don’t dream big.
So many people dive into goals without really stepping into the future and first dreaming big. If you don’t first dream big, then your goals won’t inspire you. For your goals to work for you, they need to help you realize your dreams.
They connect where you are today with where you want to be.