Do you believe in New Year’s resolutions? Studies have shown that 60% of people make them, but only 8% actually achieve their goals. How can you avoid this trap and purse your goals?
Here are 4 tips to help you avoid the most common pitfalls.
1. Your goals aren’t clear.
Do you know where your goals came from? Why are they important to you? How would achieving these goals influence your life? If you can’t answer these questions easily, you may need to consider clarifying your goals prior to setting them.
Uncertainty about what you want creates room for indifference, confusion, and distance between where you’re at and your aspirations. We recommend reflecting on 2020 before making a goal for this year.
Ask yourself what areas you grew in and what areas you want to focus on moving forward. Once you have a clear picture of where you’re at you can start thinking about where you want to go.
2. You feel overwhelmed.
Change can be daunting. It may seem as though you are making a sharp turn in an unsure path paved with your goals. You may not know where to start while facing pressure to hurry up and do so. The pressure surrounding you may come from your environment, culture, loved ones, and especially from yourself.
Over time, this pressure can feel like the walls are beginning to close in on you and you can’t see where the road begins; and even if you do know where the journey starts, looking at the long road ahead may cause you to feel as though it’s too much, too soon, overwhelming you.
These factors may cause you to quit before you even start. Humans are creatures of comfort. We love routines and once we’re set in one we’re resistant to that sense of comfort. However, this prevents us from moving forward and growing.
We recommend embracing the change rather than fear it. If you begin to feel overwhelmed ask yourself where is this feeling coming from? Remind yourself why you made this goal and where you want to grow and develop.
As you strive for your goals, you may become impatient in the process. Perhaps you are not seeing signs of progress, or at least not as fast as you previously expected. You may find yourself reflecting on the pros and cons, and whether the goals are even valuable. When this happens, you’re at risk of a snowball effect.
Rather than getting up, dusting off your hands, and moving forward, when faced with hurdles in the process- you deceive yourself by thinking the goals are no longer doable or desirable. If you feel discouraged we encourage you to reflect on what is discouraging you.
If you’re not seeing results as fast as you expected, remember that it’s a marathon and not a sprint. Good decisions compound and the longer you make small steps towards your goals the easier and bigger those steps become.
You’ll face challenges when working towards your goal, that’s the process, and when you do remind yourself again why you set this goal and why it’s worth continuing working towards.
4. You’re not ready to change.
Growth isn’t a linear process. You may think you are interested in change, and you very well may be, but are you ready? Chances are, if you’re setting new goals for yourself, you may be hungry for some level of change.
Nevertheless, failure to thoroughly consider the corresponding what, when, where, and why may cause you to lack the ability to truly ask yourself if you are currently ready to make the necessary changes.
You may find yourself making and taking every excuse under the sun that helps you step away from your path. This lack of connection, motivation, and dedication doesn’t mean that your goals aren’t representative of your dreams. It may simply mean that they are not the goals that matter the most to you at this present time.
When you realize how you may be standing in your own way, you can empower yourself to move. Try to reflect on how you may be doing this.
What do you think? Are you making a new year’s resolution? Did these tips help you reconsider and reflect on what’s goals you want to create for yourself?
Resources:
Economy, Peter. “10 Top New Year’s Resolutions for Success and Happiness in 2020.” Inc.com, Inc., 30 Dec. 2019, www.inc.com/peter-economy/10-top-new-years-resolutions-for-success-happiness-in-2020.html.
Ali, Shainna Ph.D. “Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 5 Dec. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-mentality/201812/why-new-years-resolutions-fail.