Have You Ever Wondered Why You’re Not Reaching Your Goals?

It’s a new year, and if you’re like most people, chances are that you’ve outlined a few goals that you would like to reach this year, as you do every year. But, there’s a problem. Think about the last year that you actually accomplished your new year goals. In fact, about 80% of New Year Resolutions fail by February. Considering that the vast majority of people have a hard time reaching your goals, you can rest assured that it’s not a problem with you. Rather, it’s likely a problem with the goals themselves.

We Tend To Live By The “Shoot For The Moon” Mentality

I remember growing up, like many, I was told that I should shoot for the moon. After all, if I did, and I failed, I would end up with the stars right? All of our lives, we’re taught to go big or go home. However, I recently found the story of T. Harv Eker, a self-made millionaire entrepreneur that made his millions teaching people how to live healthier, more successful and more fulfilling lives. One of the greatest lessons that I’ve learned from Mr. Eker is that our shoot for the moon view towards goals is greatly flawed.

Why The Shoot For The Moon Mentality Will Generally Lead To Missed Lifestyle Goals

No matter who you ask, if you ask about goals in life, you’re likely going to hear one of two things. Either, you will hear that the person that you’re talking to wants to get healthy, wants to become successful, or both. While these are great goals, there are some big problems with them:

These Goals Are Not Specific

One of the big reasons that goals end in failure is that the goals being set are far to vague. At the end of the day, just about everyone in the world wants to become healthier or more successful, but just saying that doesn’t outline a path to reach that goal. Instead, it’s important to set goals that lead you down a clear path to what you want. Instead of saying, “I want to get healthy,” say, “I want to stop drinking soda.” Once you’ve stopped drinking soda, think about another goal that you can set that will lead you toward the healthy lifestyle you want. Nonetheless, make sure that your goals are specific and attainable.

Humans Are Creatures Of Habit

This falls in line with the specificity of goals. At the end of the day, human beings are creatures of habit. This means that we are generally driven by habitual behavior. If we try to change all of the habits that make us unhealthy or unsuccessful all at once, we’re likely going to fail. However, to be successful, it’s important that we break through these habits little by little, stepping out of our comfort zone. In fact, Mr. Eker once said,

“If you want to move to a new level in your life, you must break through your comfort zone and practice doing things that are not comfortable.”

So, to get results, we are going to have to be willing to step out and deal with some level of discomfort. However, as mentioned above, it’s better to break goals into smaller, more attainable objectives by focusing on just one habit at a time. As we break small bad habits, we turn ourselves into habitually healthier and more successful people.

Such Massive Goals Set Us Up For Failure

Finally, failure is a real point of fear for many. After all, people simply hate to fail. When we feel as though we are likely to fail at something, we tend to sabotage our efforts at becoming successful in reaching that goal. When we set large, unattainable goals for ourselves, we may feel as though we have a chance, but in the backs of our heads, we know that there is a high chance of failure. This thought of failure becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, focusing on attainable goals is key.

Do You Notice A Trend?

All of the big problems with goals stem from one main issue. In general, our reach for the moon mentality leads us to set large, generally unattainable goals. This, in and of itself is the problem. Every issue with meeting goals stems from the fact that we are setting goals that we know in the backs of our minds, we are not going to achieve. So, if you want to change that and reach your goals this year, simply focus on reaching for more realistic outcomes!