Perhaps it was the champagne talking. Maybe you were inspired by a group of friends who was setting lofty goals. Whatever the case, you set some New Year’s resolutions for 2018 in the hope that they might actually come true. The sad reality is that according to an extensive survey done by Go Banking on 5000 participants, only 8% of resolutions that are set are achieved.
There are a multitude of reasons for lack of achievement and I go into these in more depth on my Crush It! Training (watch the replay at https://vimeo.com/249385343  password: crush18). I was a high level competitive athlete in high school, in university I studied human performance, I then went on to become an elite triathlete, coached high achievers in the worlds of sport and music, and have reflected deeply on why people achieve goals and why they do not.
It comes down to the following five reasons:
1. Lack of commitment.
2. Not understanding the time required.
3. Only looking at the outcome and not the steps.
4. Listening to unsupportive people.
5. Too disorganized.
I have found that people who do achieve their goals do the following:
1. They set goals that are deeply meaningful. These goals are not randomly intended. There are personal consequences for not achieving the goal. This could be letting someone down, it could be a feeling of self-worth, it could be the ability to help an organization or an individual. The goal must be profoundly connected to meaning.
2. They break larger goals down into smaller pieces. Achievers do not look solely at the large goal – they look at the steps to get there. For example, instead of saying, ‘I want to make six figures,’ which by the way would put you in roughly the top 6% of income earners, achievers focus on the bite-size pieces of the goal. First, they would get to $500/week and then $1000 and so forth. Those that do not achieve fail to look at the smaller vistas to reach their destination.
3. They surround themselves with people who believe in them. Achievers do not necessarily have a houseful of cheerleaders however they only listen to people who tell them they can. They do not allow seeds of doubt to flood their ambition. Whether it is listening to audios, reading books, taking courses, or hiring a coach – achievers become very focused on tuning out any unsupportive voices.
4. They develop a plan. People who achieve their goals schedule their time, create a plan, adopt the technology required, and shift their habits in order to get what they want. It ultimately comes down to precision. Those that fail to plan fail to achieve their goals.
Lastly, I invite you to tune into my FB Live series on Rock Solid Habits – visit www.facebook.com/susanslylive .
Let’s make 2018 your best year to date.
Susan
