What will stop you from reaching your goals in 2021?
I don’t know about you but I am soooooo ready to crush some BIG Goals in 2021! To be honest, I am not even sure what those goals clearly are yet, but I know they will be life-changing, big, and audacious! After a year like 2020, I am ready to shake things up!! How about you?! I hope you are ready to chase after some big things too!
But before we jot down those goals, we want to make sure we are in a mindset of success and we set the right goals for success. After polling over 100 entrepreneurs, I have found there are 7 top reasons why people sometimes miss their goals. (or worse yet, why they may not even set a goal - yikes!). If we want to be high goal achievers in the next year, let’s be aware of these so we don’t make these mistakes.
Perhaps you have made these mistakes in the past? Here are the top 7 reasons why you may not have reached your goals and a few ways to avoid those traps…
1. You aren’t taking time to really plan WHAT you want- superficial things you feel like you SHOULD be doing, not what you really WANT to do!
Don’t Should on yourself!
Spend time examining why you are choosing the goal, is it because of someone else or is it what you desire? WHY? What would happen if you went after what you wanted this year?
Anyone here a people pleaser? For every YES there is a NO - If you say Yes to working for your current boss when you really want to start your own business you are saying NO to yourself and ALL of the future clients you could be helping, probably your family as well…
Maybe it seems so crazy so you are playing it safe? - Step out of your comfort zone! Learn about HARD goals in #2.
Spend time really reflecting on your motives behind the goal.
A lot of people just go through life taking what it gives them. That’s not you because you are here!
2. You haven’t tied the goal deep into your why and who will be affected if you achieve the goal. You're not emotionally attached to the goal.
Mark Murhpy - in “HARD Goals, The Secret to getting from where you are to where you want to be”, believes our goals need to be HEARTFELT, Animated, Required, & Difficult. He asks the reader; “How do we sear this goal into our minds, make it so critical that our very existence that no matter what obstacles we encounter we will not falter in our pursuit of this goal?”
THIS IS how High Achievers attain their goals - they want it soooo bad it has to be done!
AS women when we know how a goal will affect someone we love if we achieve it and if we don’t we are more focused and determined to accomplish it!
Who’s dream is attached to your dream? Family, clients, friends, strangers watching your success ??
How will you feel when you achieve this goal?? Go deep - teach this in the course - peel back the layers of the onion
3. You Set them and forget them - Set them in the champagne excitement of New Year’s Eve?! Sound familiar?
Lofty goals that sound good other times you really do want them but then life happens and you forget what you said as soon as the hangover ends…
HOW to keep the goal in front of you:
Vision board training will cover this!
look at it daily poster
Phone image of your goal, computer, bathroom mirror, car
4. It seems so far away and so out of reach so you give up too soon. You aren’t breaking them down into bite-sized action steps
This is where #’s to come into play… SMART Goals … To make sure your goals are clear and reachable, each one should be:
Specific (simple, sensible, significant).
Measurable (meaningful, motivating).
Achievable (agreed, attainable).
Relevant (reasonable, realistic, and resourced, results-based).
Time-bound (time-based, time-limited, time/cost limited, timely, time-sensitive).
Break down the activity we need to do to hit our goals if they are #’s! I love this - Countdown or count up …
Caution - don’t let the #make you forget the EMOTIONAL Piece of the goal.
Celebrate each mile marker, each stepping stone towards the goal!
5. You don’t even know HOW to get started - similar to #4 - but the thought seems overwhelming so you don’t even take the first step.
Just get started!!!
ACTION Cures procrastination… (story working on the course)
Put the action steps from #4 in your calendar and just take the 1st step - even if it seems insignificant
Then do it again and again and again
Sounds simple and it is! We over complicate it & overthink it.
Take the time to plan out what needs to happen and take action steps -
Write a book - Step 1 Get a computer, take a course, etc.
Step 2 - Decide what type of book you will write
Step 3 - Start writing!
Want to run a ½ marathon - Step 1 buy sneakers and work out clothes
Step 2 - hire a running coach
Step 3 - get moving!
Each action step will motivate you to do more…
HACK - commit for just 5 mins… do more if you want or be done for the day, tomorrow work on it for 10 mins… it adds up and you are making progress. USE your phone to HELP you achieve your goals vs distracting you from the goal.
6. You aren’t Visualizing yourself doing the action steps successfully -
You may have learned to visualize the outcome (We will talk about this in the Vision Board creating course) but did you know you should be visually the action steps?
All of what we talked about in Module 4 & 5 - every AM visualize yourself taking the action needed to hit your goal and doing it well!!
Running, writing, clients appointments, coaching, etc
Visualize the confident YOU doing the actions!
One study, conducted by Guang Yue, an exercise physiologist at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, asked volunteers to imagine flexing their biceps as hard as possible. After a few weeks of simply visualizing weight training, the subjects showed a 13.5 percent increase in strength. A study out of the University of Chicago asked participants to visualize shooting free throws for a month. They improved their shooting by 23 percent. And a French study found that long jumpers who visualized their jumps and went through the actual motion of the jump performed better 45 percent of the time.
Olympic athletes have been using this technique for years: Bob Bowman has been Micheal Phelps’ coach since he was a teenager and has included mental imagery or visualization as a part of Phelps’ mental training. Bowman instructed Phelps to watch a “mental videotape” of his races every day before he went to sleep and when he woke up in the morning. Phelps would visualize every aspect of swimming a successful race starting from the blocks and culminating in a celebration after the race was won. Bowman would instruct Phelps to “Put in the videotape” during training sessions to help motivate Phelps to push harder.
What video can you start playing in your mind every AM & PM?
The final Big reason
#7 The action steps aren’t getting plugged into the daily to-do list-
Go back to your activities in Module 4 & 5 and plug them into your planner!
Know WHEN, Where, How you will work on your goals
What will you give up in order to find the time - you can’t add more hours so something has to go! (Netflix, oversleeping, Social Medial Scrolling, easy) ( Family time, Vacation time, other things you enjoy - harder decisions but temporary for the good of all!)
Word of caution - do NOT give up exercise - you need to be healthy to achieve the goals and get 7-8 hours of sleep
Stick to your plan like your life depends on it! IT does!!
Now that you are aware of these goal-achieving barriers, I hope you will acknowledge them, avoid them, and then move forward with your big plans for 2021!
I’d love to know - which of the 7 did you recognize as the thing that has stopped you in the past? What will you do to avoid it in 2021?
Listen to the Uncharted Entrepreneurs Podcast Ep 38 for more on this subject.
