5 Reasons Why You’re Not Achieving Success (& How to Overcome Them)

We’ve all been there, feeling like you aren’t achieving success. The most common reason many people do not achieve success is that we have not defined what success looks like to us.

In order to get to where you want to be, you must determine your endpoint and work backward to outline the step from that point to where you are now. This is why goal setting is so important.

Why Goal Setting is Important

Setting goals gives you both long-term vision and short term vision. Throughout my years, I have found a few common reasons why people do not achieve success. And almost all of these struggles occur because they are not seeing goal setting as a solution.

Are you trying to reach something and not setting a goal? Keep reading for the reasons why you’re likely not achieving success and how to overcome them.

5 Reason You’re Got Achieving Success

We’ve all been there: feeling fired up to work toward our goals, but then failing along the way.

Not achieving a goal can be discouraging and might deter us from setting other meaningful goals. Instead of feeling discouraged when I don’t immediately reach a goal, however, I take some time and reflect on why I didn’t meet that goal so I can learn and grow from the overall experience.

SMART goal setting is the best way to ensure we reach our goals, and there are a few easy steps we can take to set better goals and then meet them.

Here are five reasons you might not be achieving your goals and the best ways to fix those problems.

1. Your Goals Are Too Vague

Many times, people set goals that are too vague. You might think “I’d like to get in shape” or “It would really be great to have more money in my savings account.” And sure, it would be great — but unless you outline your goals more specifically, you’re probably not going to reach them.

Specific goals are helpful because when you spell out exactly what you want to do, it’s easier to envision yourself doing it — and then to actually go through the motions. Instead of saying “I want to get in shape,” try saying, “I’m going to work out three days a week and stop drinking soda.”

Just like that, your goal has transformed from something vague that you’d like to do into something concrete and specific that you’re going to do.

2. You’re Note Quantifying Your Goals

A common mistake when it comes to goal setting is that your goals aren’t measurable. Can you evaluate your goal and measure your progress? If not, it’s probably a good idea to revisit and tweak your original goal.

For example, if you were to say “My goal is to save more money,” that’s difficult to measure. What does “more” mean? That goal could be interpreted in many different ways — and I might pat myself on the back for saving $10 when really, $10 can’t buy very much at all.

But if I were to say that my goal is to save $5,000 by this summer, it’s easy to track that progress. I can regularly check your bank account to see how close I am to that $5,000 mark.

And along the way, I stay motivated because I see how close I’m getting to that goal. I urge you to do the same.

3. You’re Setting Unattainable Goals

Setting goals is exciting! You might have grand plans — such as becoming a millionaire, working remotely from an Island, or building your dream house. But if you set the bar too high, you’re not going to reach your goals, and you’ll feel disappointed in yourself and burned out.

An easy way to combat this is by setting goals that are achievable.

For instance, let’s say I want to build that dream house. Saying “I want to build a new house for my family in the next six months” is most likely not an achievable goal.

Building a house takes time. So a more realistic goal might be, “I’m going to find a contractor and make a budget.”

Once I’ve achieved that goal, I can think about the rest of the process and decide what the next realistic goal might be.

Do you see the difference?

4. You’re setting goals that are irrelevant to your life

Sure, you might like the idea of moving to New York City or the Caribbean. But is that goal actually relevant to your life? Achieving that goal may be fun, but if it doesn’t move you further down the road on your overall plan for your life, it wasn’t really worth it.

That’s why I always make sure my goals aren’t a waste of my time. Each goal should have a purpose behind it to help make it relevant.

Instead of moving to the Caribbean just because the blue water looks pretty, a better goal might be, “I want to move to [city] because there are so many opportunities there for jobs in my industry.”

When setting goals I always ensure it is relevant to my life.

5. You’re not adding a timeframe requirement.

Adding a deadline to each goal you set is essential — when you add a deadline to your goals, you’ll be much more motivated to work towards them and ensure you reach them before the time period is up.

What does this look like? It’s simple: Instead of saying “I want to hire two more employees for my company,” say “I want to hire two more employees for my company within 3 months .” Then you’ll be more motivated to pursue and reach that goal.

To ensure I reach the goals I give myself realistic time frames. These help me keep my goals aligned and within reach.

Become Successful with Goal Setting

Have you ever set a goal that you were not able to reach? What was it and how could you have made it more attainable?

If you’re ready to start setting better goals, you’re in luck. You have the ability to set and achieve any goal. My SMART goals template will get you there.

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