Why You Set Goals and Don’t Do Them (And How To Get Past It)

Are you the type of person that has set goal after goal, only to barely even go after them? Is something wrong with you? Or is there an easy fix?

If you look on the positive side of things, if this defines you, you’re not alone. 92% of people who set goals for the new year, don’t actually achieve them.

If you want to become part of the 8% of people who actually do achieve there goals. It’s important to dive into the reasons why you set goals and don’t go after them properly.

Let’s dive into it.

You Set Goals That Are Unattainable

It’s common for individuals to concentrate on their desires rather than what is realistically achievable. This leads them to establish goals that are beyond their reach.

This typically occurs when they admire individuals who have attained a certain status, but fail to acknowledge the years of relentless effort that contributed to that success.

It’s crucial to recognize the substantial amount of hard work that goes into achieving your goals. Understanding this can help set more realistic and attainable objectives

Your Goals Are Surface Level

Sometimes in moments of motivation, we set goals in the spur of the moment. This leads to us setting goals that are surface level. What do I mean by surface level? Well, for example, you could want to get rich. That’s great, but it is still surface level and not very specific.

You could see a video about a real estate mogul who owns multiple rental properties and you think “I could do that”.

This is where many people just leave off and never actually take action. There is no plan in place. You need to make sure that you have a well-thought out plan of attack that has steps put into place, otherwise it’s just a vague goal with no specifics or deadline.

The Solution

The way you could get around this is by setting realistic goals. We go over this topic in depth for this post. the main key is to set goals with the SMART method which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Setting goals like this will help you break them down into more manageable chunks. 

Your Fear Of Failure Leads To Procrastination Which Leads To Inaction 

If you set a goal that you’re scared of starting, you may purposefully procrastinate until it’s too late. You don’t want to fail, so you avoid the goal altogether.

I’ve done this plenty of times. When I went to start my first YouTube channel, I was really scared of getting started because I had no idea what I was doing. So for a few months, I just thought about it and never did anything.

How To Get Around This

We go over this topic in depth in this article. However, here’s list of things we cover:

• Understanding the nature of fear and doubt.
• The root of fear: Anticipated pain.
• The grip of doubt: The power of negative thinking.
• Overcoming fear: The power of affirmations.

Your Confidence Is Extremely Low

After a while of setting surface level goals and procrastinating on every single goal that you set, your confidence will start to dwindle.

When this happens no matter what goal you set, you may feel as if you can’t achieve it.

I felt like this after attending college. I wasn’t very interested in what I was doing, and I felt like nothing was going to be successful.

This carries over to new goals, which makes it even harder to get started.

Action Is The Key To Getting Around This

You may be wondering how to get out of this confidence rut, there is one solution. The answer is taking action.

Why is taking action the solution? Well.. When you keep promises to yourselves, especially when it comes to personal goals, your confidence will start to increase. You’ll see that you can accomplish things and the fear of failure won’t creep up as much.

Just do. Don’t think about the person who may see your work. Don’t think about the possibility of failing.

Everyones first video is usually terrible. 

Everyones first drawing is usually bad.

I like to live by not judging yourself on the first attempt. But judging yourself on the difference of your 100th attempt and your 1st attempt.

Problems With Time Management

Most goals are attainable with the right time management. However, if you lack in time management skills, you may find it hard to get started or stay on track. If you don’t get on top of it, the goal will stay in your head and you’ll constantly tell yourself you don’t have the time. 

Ways To Improve Time Management

Here are some ways to improve time management so you can stay on track with goals:

• Prioritize the most important tasks first
• Time block: multi-tasking is a myth, and it’s unproductive. Use the time blocking method and do one task at a time.
• Delegate tasks when possible.
• Write everything down.

Conclusion

Setting goals and not following through is a common issue many of us face. Whether it’s due to surface-level goals, fear of failure, low confidence, or poor time management, it’s important to remember that these obstacles can be overcome. By setting SMART goals, understanding and confronting our fears, taking action to boost our confidence, and improving our time management skills, we can make significant strides towards achieving our goals.