Don't Give Up! Recommit to Your Goals Today
Table of Contents
Reasons Why People Give Up on Their Goals
Accomplish Your Goals in 5 Steps
The Difference Between Giving Up and Letting Go
Why Recommitment is Essential for Goal Achievement
Strategies to Overcome Mental Barriers and Increase Motivation
One Degree Shifts Can Help
We all know that setting goals is a crucial step in creating the life of our dreams. Yet, we often find our original excitement about goals tends to fizzle out, and our goals are left in the dust. If that happens to you, know that you’re not alone! With some new awareness and tools, you can get to the root cause – and get those goals DONE!
Reasons why people give up on their goals
Did you know that 92% of people give up on their goals and only 9% of people keep their New Year's resolutions?
Why? Here are a few reasons.
We don’t actually know how to achieve our goals, so we set these great goals and get excited about them but realize that we don’t know where to start. We don’t set ourselves up for success by establishing the new habits required to achieve the goal. Or we don’t seek support from someone who knows HOW to get that goal done.
We’re just not passionate enough about the goals we’re setting. Here’s the thing: motivation won’t come if you’re bored with your B-O-R-I-N-G goals! If your goal doesn’t make you feel excited or passionate or inspired, you won’t find the motivation to get it done.
Mental barriers often get in the way because our mind can be our best friend or our worst enemy. You might get really excited about setting a new goal, then start to worry and ask yourself, “What if I fail?” That’s self-doubt, which is rooted in fear. Once that self-doubt creeps in, you delay. You come up with excuses or procrastinate. The longer you delay, the longer you delay! “Well, I waited this long…” becomes the new excuse. And while you delay, you get divided from your goal, or your dream, or your integrity, or your motivation. Before you know it, a year goes by and you realize…you never did it. All because of fear.
Sound familiar? Don’t be discouraged. There’s a way to address every single one of those roadblocks!
Accomplish Your Goals in 5 Steps
Grab the goals or resolutions that you set at the beginning of the year and go through these 5 steps. Yes, your days are busy and packed full of action, but you’ll miss out on LIFE if you don’t pause to look around you in the present and ahead to the future.
Step 1: Gain clarity on your goals
Let's begin by taking a moment to reflect and gain absolute clarity on your resolutions. Assess their alignment with your current values and priorities. Are these goals going to make you excited and inspired every day? Are they aligned with your purpose and core values in this current stage of life?
To gain deeper insight, envision how your future self would feel if you did not achieve these goals. What would your Wiser Elder Self advise you to do? If the mere thought of not accomplishing a goal leaves you feeling unsettled, then it might be worth pursuing. If you feel like accomplishing the goal won’t matter to you in 20 or 50 years from now, then maybe it’s not that important. Use these insights in your first step to decide what you want to keep for the rest of the year, or what you want to let go.
Step 2: Keep goals visible
Now, it is the perfect time to make your resolutions a constant presence in your life. Print out a copy and position it in a place where you encounter it every day. This is so important because if you don't keep these goals in your sight, you will lose excitement and momentum. Whenever you come across your resolutions, take a moment to pause and envision the joy and fulfillment you'll experience once you achieve them. This is important because where your mind goes, energy flows. So keep your eye on the prize by looking at these goals every single day.
Step 3: Schedule dedicated time
One of the biggest mistakes people make is not making their goals a top priority. This can easily be solved by scheduling dedicated time on the calendar. Set aside specific blocks for your resolution or goal, like healthy habits, meal prepping, exercising, spending time with family and loved ones, or pursuing new skills. If your goal doesn't show up in your calendar, it is not getting done. Look at your calendar WEEKLY to carve out small chunks of time for these goals. Consistency will get you results. Stay consistent.
Step 4: Regularly review and celebrate your progress
At the start of each new month, set aside 5 to 15 minutes to review your goals. Assess your progress, make any necessary adjustments, and CELEBRATE your small victories along the way. Acknowledge your achievements, no matter how small! Don't underestimate the power of positive reinforcement — it fuels your determination and keeps the momentum going. If you don’t do this, then you’ll fall into a mental trap that will leave you feeling demoralized.
Step 5: Find an accountability partner
Find someone who can support you in staying on track and celebrating your successes. This could be a trusted friend, a partner, a colleague, or a life/leadership coach. They will help you overcome self-doubt during challenging moments and keep you committed and disciplined toward your goals. Having someone by your side can make all the difference in maintaining accountability and staying motivated.
The Difference Between Giving Up and Letting Go
In the pursuit of our goals, it's important to understand the difference between giving up and letting go. Giving up suggests that your goal is important, but you’re struggling to stay consistent, disciplined, or committed to it. This is where those mental barriers can come into play, or lack of habits or support can throw you off your A-game.
Letting go of a goal means you're really intentional about saying goodbye to a goal. It becomes a deliberate, conscious choice. Letting go entails evaluating your life, priorities, and specific goal. If the goal no longer aligns with your priorities, letting go becomes a wise decision. Maybe you get a job promotion or something major happens in your personal life and you realize, “I don't need to work on this goal. It's not a good use of my time. I need to set a new goal and focus on building a skill for this new job or spending time with my loved one and helping them out.”
Distinguishing between giving up and letting go empowers conscious decisions about where to invest your time, energy, and resources.
Why Recommitment is Essential for Goal Achievement
In the midst of life's chaos and busyness, recommitting to your resolutions and goals becomes crucial. If you're not intentional about recommitting, another month or year goes by and all of a sudden you realize you didn't look at your goals, you didn't schedule time to build those new habits, and eventually, it all fizzles out. Then you’re looking in the mirror, feeling frustrated, and wondering, “Why am I not further along by now?!”
Don't let all that time go by. Schedule time to recommit to your goals. That will keep your excitement going. That will help you stay consistent. I want you to look in the mirror, smile at yourself, and say, “I'm making some moves toward my goals. YEAH.”
As humans, we are moved and inspired by progress. We need to see progress and growth in our life. When you set goals, you're usually challenging yourself a little bit and pushing outside your comfort zone. When you can accomplish that feat and move the needle on it, you will feel fulfilled and full of joy.
View this as a process. It's not going to be perfect. Things are going to happen in your life because life is messy. Come back to this blog, schedule time to recommit to your goals, and keep your momentum going.
Strategies to Overcome Mental Barriers and Increase Motivation
When it comes to accomplishing our goals and feeling fulfilled, mental barriers often stand in our way and cause us to delay. You start to doubt yourself. Fear creeps in. You delay. You delay a little longer … a week, a month, a year, or 10 years goes by. But have hope! These mental barriers can be overcome. Take a look at some strategies to avoid these motivation blockers.
Articulate Your Fears and Increase Your Confidence: Take a moment to say your fears out loud. By verbalizing fears, you can evaluate their validity. Ask yourself, "What am I scared about? What are the chances that my fear is actually going to happen?" More often than not, you'll realize that your fears hold little weight and perhaps you were, ahem, catastrophizing (hey, we all do it). However, if your fears highlight areas where you need to improve or develop new skills, view them as valuable data points and commit to building that skill, learning that thing, and taking some action to build your competence. That's when your confidence will increase.
Raise Necessity: Rather than relying solely on motivation, focus on raising the necessity of your goals. There is magic in finding your “why.” Think about the thing you want to do: why do you want to do it? Most people never ask themselves this. If, for example, you want to get into shape: Why does that matter to you? Why are you passionate about it? What is it going to do for your life? How are you going to feel when you accomplish this? Really tap into that fire inside you. Raising necessity is critical because unless you have a “why” and a purpose, when life throws you curveballs or you get tired or busy, you're going to throw your goal right out the window.
Language Matters: Pay attention to the language you use when setting goals or articulating your aspirations. For example, maybe you want to create a goal about losing weight and you say, “I want to lose 25 pounds this year.” Hey, no offense, and I love you, but … B-O-R-I-N-G! That language isn’t enough. It just won’t be enough to motivate you when you're tired, the kids are screaming (yet again), or you didn’t sleep well. You're not going to care so much about the 25 pounds when you’re super stressed. Your language needs to be stronger. So change your language to make it more exciting and meaningful.
Be SMART. You may have heard of SMART goals, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound. Ensure your goal checks off those boxes. You want to stretch yourself, and challenge is great to make us feel alive, but also make sure you’re biting off what you can actually chew. Please don’t choke on that goal sandwich! Create urgency with deadlines and put those milestones on your calendar. Set yourself up for success.
It’s a Journey — EnJOY it!
Remember, the path to goal achievement is not always smooth, but with a proactive mindset and these empowering techniques, you can navigate obstacles and stay committed to your aspirations. And along the way, remember to have fun, see challenges as new adventures and smile!
One Degree Shifts Can Help
Ready to recommit to your goals or forgotten resolutions? Get in touch today so you can feel fired up about your goals, create momentum now, and feel great about your progress at the end of the year!
