Why Setting Goals is Hard: Overcoming the Challenges

Setting goals at first glance is a simple process. You say what you want to do, and then go after it. However, when you actually dive into the process you’ll realize that there are many different challenges and obstacles that can block your path. So why exactly is setting goals so hard?

Discomfort with the Status Quo

According to Kirstin, the first reason setting new goals is so hard is because it can be challenging to admit that we’re not satisfied with our current situation. This is either because we don’t want to leave our comfort zone, fear, or the self doubt that comes with doing something new.

How To Overcome The Discomfort Of The Status Quo

To overcome this challenge, it’s essential to identify the exact reasons why you’re hesitating. It’s important to first acknowledge the feelings and make sure you’re gentle with yourself during this process. Identifying this will help us get the help we need or learn the skills that we need to get past them.

• For example, if you have anxiety, and that’s the reason you’re putting off setting goals, it may be helpful to speak with a therapist or coach.
• If you’re struggling with self doubt, you may need to learn about self love and practice positive affirmations.

Whatever it is, make sure you take the time to understand what is holding you back and then actively work on getting past it.

Lack of Goal-Setting Skills

Growing up and being in school we are guided through everything. Every homework assignment, exam, and project has been assigned by someone else. So when we’re asked to set our own goals, it can be a bit of a confusing process.

This will result in someone writing down a vague goal, without specifically going over the process of how they are going to achieve it. Many people overlook the importance of setting realistic goals, which is why they are unable to reach them.

How To Improve Goal Setting Skills

There are many things you could work on to improve your goal-setting skills. Here’s what you should pay attention to:

1. Understand the differences between goals, objectives, and action plans.
2. Setting SMART Goals which stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based.
3. Take smaller steps, rather than constantly looking at the big picture
4. Visualize your goal in order to achieve it
5. Track your progress

These tips could be applied to health goals, work goals, personal development goals and more. If you want a more comprehensive understanding of goal setting, take a look at our blog post on how to set realistic goals and achieve them.

Other things you could do in order to set goals effectively is to work with experts, trying different techniques that work for you, or using different goal setting apps.

Mindset Shifts

Oftentimes when you set a goal, you’re elevating yourself to a higher level that may be out of your comfort zone. Kirstin explained that this can require mindset shifts in order to be achievable which is much easier said than done.

Some mindset shifts you may need to make are:

• Learning to trust the process and believe that anything is possible.
• Letting go of the fear of failure or fear of judgement.
• Believing you can achieve your goal and challenging your inner critic.
• Focusing on what needs to be done instead of worrying about the outcome
• Increase your discipline and commitment

How To Make The “Mindset Shift” Transition Easier

Making the “mindset shift” transition can be difficult, but it’s not impossible. Here are some tips to make this process smoother:

Start with smaller steps to achieve

When you take smaller steps and get them done, you’re in a sense doing what you promised yourself you’d do. This builds confidence. You want to continuously do this until you’re fully committed to the fact that you can do it.

Surround Yourself With Positive Influences

This one is an important step, and I can attest to the power of doing this. This doesn’t necessarily have to do with just the people you surround yourself with (although that’s important), but it could also be what you’re consuming on social media.

For instance, I use the Instagram algorithm to my advantage by only liking inspirational content. This way when I go on and click on reels, I watch a couple of videos and it motivates me to get right back to work.

Use a Journal For Self Reflection

When you use a journal for self reflection, it lets you see how you could build on your successes and evaluate your shortcomings. This will help drastically improve your mindset and thought process.

Conflicting Goals and Priorities

The last point Kirstin made is that you may have conflicting goals and priorites which can be difficult to manage. Everyone wants to be healthier, make more money, and improve relationships all at the same time.

All of those things take a lot of work, which include smaller objectives to reach the bigger goals.

How To Avoid Setting Conflicting Goals

There are only so many hours in a day, so while setting goals in all different areas of life it’s important to prioritize. Here are some tips to avoid setting conflicting goals.

Prioritization

First off, you want to prioritize the things that are most important to you, and the things that are going to move the needle forward.

For example, you should set 3 goals to hit for your health, 3 goals to hit for your money ventures, and 3 goals to hit for your relationship every single day.

Health: Drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, walk 30 minutes each day, stay under your calorie maintenance in order to lose weight.

Money: Make 5 sales calls a day, post on your blog once per day, review budget for 10 minutes every day.

Relationships: Call or text a friend or family member once per day that you haven’t talked to in a while, check in with your significant other at least once per day during work, spend quality time before bed.

Note how all of these 3 x 3 goals align with each other. They are all possible to do in one day.

Adjust Accordingly

If you realize that two goals may be affecting one another more than you thought, adjust accordingly. For instance, maybe that extra blog post you wanted to do per day isn’t feasible due to lack of time. Don’t give up blogging, instead just adjust the goal to one post every other day. It’s all about being real with yourself.

Setting Goals Gets Easier

Yes, goal setting is hard, but if you follow what we went over in this blog post it will get easier over time.

Don’t be the person who puts off their goals and regrets it down the road, be the person who takes action now and take control of their future.