6 Reasons Why You Fail to Achieve Your Goals and How to Avoid Them

When you set goals, your intention is always good.

With each goal, you’re dead serious.

But, despite our good intentions and seriousness, lots of people can’t achieve their goals.

The main reason we cannot achieve our goals is because we go about it in the wrong way.

Below are six common reasons you fail to achieve your goals and how to avoid them.

You Have Unrealistic Goals

Yes, dream big.

See possibilities beyond where you are right now.

Stretch your imagination and explore your deep desires and ambitions.

Otherwise, it’s impossible to know your real limit—how far you can go.

But make sure your big dreams are realistic.

Imagine setting a goal to become a Wimbledon champion after touching a tennis ball for the first time in your 20s.

Regardless of how many hours you put in, becoming a champion will not happen.

Or make your first million dollars from your start-up business in 3 months.

Unrealistic goals are discouraging because they’re impossible to attain.

Set goals just out of reach. Goals that you know are a little hard to attain from where you’re standing now, but that, with a good plan and dedication, you know you can achieve.

You Have Too Many Goals

A worthwhile goal demands focus, devotion, and commitment.

If you have too many goals, you spread your time and energy too thin.

You dabble in each and end up with nothing.

When you set goals, go for quality, not quantity, and focus on very important goals that deserve your full attention and do them really well.

You Have Shiny Object Syndrome

Many people set financial goals but can’t achieve them because of “shiny object syndrome.”

A friend tells you she’s just created an app and is making a killing.

You jump ship from what you’ve been working on to join in, hoping you can imitate her success.

There comes another friend with seemingly another overnight success story in 3 months. You jump ship yet again.

You keep getting distracted and don’t see through a project to attain your goal.

Therefore, you don’t give yourself or your goal enough chance.

Stick to your own goal.

See it through until you have a result one way or another so you can properly learn from it or build on it.

You Don’t Have a Strong Why

Make sure your goals are yours and not your friends’ or family’s hopes and dreams.

Don’t let others tell you what’s best for you because you’re the only one who knows it.

If you’re unsure, find out now what’s important to you. 

Be true to yourself.

Ask yourself why these dreams and hopes are important to you.

Find out your core values.

You’ll face many obstacles while pursuing a goal.

When you feel you can’t go on, your strong why becomes the driving force, pushing you through the tough times.

Lack of Action and Commitment

Perhaps you’re full of ideas and get excited about every one of them but end up doing nothing.

Having ideas and setting a goal is only the beginning.

And achieving goals is all about execution.

You’ll see plenty of blank faces if you announce, “Hey, I once had this brilliant idea!”

And the blank faces would tell you without a word, “So what?” or “Who doesn’t?”

Brilliant ideas mean nada without action.

Being Overwhelmed

Your goal looks too big from where you are, as it should.

But remember, you wouldn’t have conceived this goal in the first place if you thought it was beyond your reach!

The only reason you get overwhelmed by it is because you’re preoccupied with the result.

And you’re forgetting the process.

From the bottom of the mountain, the summit always looks too far away to reach; it’s normal to feel overwhelmed before taking your first step.

And the only solution to dealing with being overwhelmed is to take action. 

Work out the best route to the summit, allocate a daily distance to cover, and walk that distance each day.  

That’s all there is to it.

And the overwhelming sense disappears with each step you take.

Before you know it, you move up from the bottom to the middle, and then to the top!

That’s how we build a big house: the balance of success hangs on one brick you’re holding or one action you take.

Final Thoughts

Specifying what you want to achieve (setting a goal) is simple.

But going about it in the wrong way can set you up for failure.

Be mindful of the pitfalls mentioned in this post.

Make sure your goals are achievable and deserve your full attention. Also, know why those goals are so important to you. Break them down into small steps, and take those steps daily.

You’ll achieve all the goals you set out to achieve without fail. 

You Might Also Enjoy…

• SMART Goal and Example with My Blog
• 4 Reasons Why I Visualise My Goals (and How to Visualise Better)
• How to Boost Motivation to Reach Your Goals