Why Setting Goals Can Cause Anxiety and How to Overcome It

When it comes to setting goals, people often only talk about the positive aspects of it. That’s because for the most part setting goals is a positive thing; it gives us a sense of direction and encourages us to strive for improvement.

However, there is a downside to setting goals. For some people, if not done right, setting goals could cause anxiety and stress. If this is something you tend to deal with, you’re not alone. So why exactly does setting goals cause anxiety and how can you overcome it?

We consulted with expert Alexa Bailey, MSW, LCSW, (Website) and also Kent Bradley, M.D., MPH, MBA, Chief Health Officer at Herbalife to see exactly why setting goals can cause anxiety and how to overcome it. Let’s dive into the advice they both gave us and then go into the methods we could use to overcome this anxiety.

Before we dive in, if you want bite-sized self development tips delivered to your inbox every single Sunday, subscribe below!

Why Setting Goals Causes Anxiety For Some People

Both experts gave us some solid reasons why setting goals can cause anxiety for some people.

Goal Are Too Complex and Not Broken Down Properly

“Setting goals inherently requires the use of the critical thinking part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex. When a goal seems too large, it can trigger the amygdala, which is the fight, flight, or freeze part of the brain. This means we have now shut down the reward and motivation system needed to access our decision makings skills with these stress neurochemicals.” – Alexa Bailey, MSW, LCSW (https://www.evolvecounselingaz.com/alexa-bailey), Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexabaileycounseling/

In other words when we feel stressed or overwhelmed by the size or complexity of a goal, it can mess with our ability to make good decisions and take actions necessary to move closer to our goal.

The bottom line is if you are someone who is anxious about their goals, you need to reassess how you’re going about them.

This topic goes hand in hand with our blog post about setting important goals if you want to check that out as well.

Change Entails Stress

“Change entails stress, which can make you feel frustrated, fatigued or anxious. Those feelings can become the fuel of self-sabotage, causing you to lose motivation.” – Dr. Kent Bradley, M.D., MPH, MBA, Chief Health Officer at Herbalife

When we set a new goal, often times there’s a lot of new things we need to learn. The learning curve state can be a stage that triggers anxiety due to the fact that you want to learn every single aspect at once, which isn’t realistic.

Comparing Yourself To Others

When you’re setting goals and you compare yourself to other who are already ahead of you, this is a sure way to increase your anxiety.

What you need to realize is that the people who are so far ahead of you did the little things every single day in order to get where they are today. Comparing yourself to them isn’t fair, and it makes you think about all the things you need to do in such a short period of time to get where they are.

What You Could Do To Avoid Anxiety While Setting Goals

We also got some insights as to how you could deal with anxiety when setting goals. Let’s dive into the advice both experts gave us.

Breaking Goals Down Into Smaller Chunks

“In order to calm the stress response, our amygdala needs small nudges and little steps to keep the brain in a state of safety. When the goal is too big, the brain shuts down in order to find safety. The smaller the goal, the less likely our amygdala will be triggered or overwhelmed. When determining a goal, take time to reflect on how you can make it smaller or chunk tasks. Asking simple questions like “what is one small think I can do today?” can help break down the overwhelm of all the effort needed for a giant goal.” – Alexa Bailey, MSW, LCSW

This means you want to be as specific as possible when going at your goal. The more you could break down tasks, the more you’re going to feel like you’re accomplishing something.

When you feel as if you’re accomplishing something, you tend to gain more confidence and it slowly but surely propels you towards your goal.

Having a Support Group

“Good habits are tough to establish, so having an accountability partner, or even a community, around you for support, guidance, and encouragement can be critical.” –Kent Bradley, M.D., MPH, MBA, Chief Health Officer at Herbalife

Another great tip for getting rid of anxiety when it comes to goal setting is having a support system, or participating in a community where everyone else is trying to achieve the same goal.

One example for this when it comes to my blogging business, is Twitter. I follow and talk to a lot of different bloggers who are seeing success with their blogging business and they motivate me to keep going because of their support and their proof of success.

Having people around you that do this for you is a great way to keep the anxiety at bay, and it’s also a great motivator at the same time.

Choose Goals That Have Meaning To You

Another important thing to do is to choose goals that have meaning to you. When you have a sense of purpose and motivation it makes it easier to stay committed and focused.

When you’re focusing on something that has meaning to you, you won’t feel as anxious because you will be too invested in the process to think about anything else.

Conclusion

So although goal setting is usually looked at as a good thing, it can cause anxiety for many of us if not done right. The best way to combat this is to break down the goal into smaller tasks that are more manageable, have a support system for encouragement, and make sure the goal you choose has meaning to you.

By following the guidelines above, you should notice a big change when it comes to your anxiety and goal-setting.

By following our guide on how to set goals, you could also get some anxiety relief by doing it the right way.