+ how to fix them!
If you’re sick and tired of having high hopes but never reaching your goals, it’s time to stop and ask yourself why aren’t they happening? Maybe you want to lose weight or start a new business. Maybe you want to increase your income or improve a relationship. Whatever your goal might be, there are some serious roadblocks to success.
I’ve been there—I think we all have. The disappointment of reaching the end of the year and realizing I didn’t do all I’d set to do in the beginning just sucks. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way. Nope! You can have 100% responsibility over the failure or success of reaching your goals. So here are the top 5 reasons why you’re not reaching your goals + ways to fix them!
You’re too lazy
I started with this because honestly, we have all been there. Sitting somewhere, we take the time to write down goals and dreams, fantasizing the future, but when it gets down to the grind of things, the “thick of thin” takes the first class seat in your life.
Procrastination sets in and you find every excuse in the book to not reach your goals. It’s in our small, day-to-day actions that we can be lazy and find any and every distraction possible that drains our time from doing the things that will bring us satisfaction.
For a fun visual, I highly recommend watching this Ted Talk about procrastination. Don’t let that monkey get you!
Your goals aren’t SMART
You’ve probably heard this a million times, but in order to create a reachable goal in the first place, the goal must be SMART (view the acronym below).
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Timely
It has to meet all of these criteria to be a good goal in the first place. My personal favorite is the T, timeliness. When you attach deadlines to your goals, it creates a sense of urgency. It also helps you make better plans and arrange your schedule to make time for your goals!
You won’t take responsibility
Did you know that you have 100% responsibility for your life? In my Hawaii Vibe, I talk about how we are response-able, meaning that we have the ability to respond.
Whatever your current situation might be, you can choose to get up and reach those goals. Or you can choose not to. It’s totally up to you.
Leialoha
Some of the most amazing people I know and admire have been in some of the darkest places, but they chose to rise above their circumstances and take 100% responsibility for their lives.
So what will you choose to do?
You’re “too busy”
#ToughLove but this is another excuse. You’ve heard this a million times but on average a person spends 8-12 hours a day doing things. If your goal is to lose weight, what can you do to give yourself at least 30 min a day to do that? If your goal is to improve your relationship with your spouse or children, how much of those 8 hours have you devoted to them?
You see, we spend so much of our time being “busy” but does being “busy” provide us the rich satisfaction and joy we would receive from spending time on the things that matter most? It’s like the story of the man who was chopping down a tree but his ax was dull. It was taking him forever. A friend asked why he wouldn’t just pause and sharpen the ax—after all, it would make the process of cutting the tree soooo much faster. The man simply replied that he was “too busy” and “didn’t have the time.”
Can you imagine how the quality of your life would improve if you would just take some time to sharpen the saw and work towards your goals?
You don’t have the resources
This is actually a legit reason you might not be able to reach your goals. When I was in high school, my family lived in poverty. I had big dreams of being a writer, but we couldn’t be on the computer unless we started the generator (did I say poverty? Yes I really meant it—we lived in a house that didn’t have running water or electricity). The generator would be on for maybe half an hour and my siblings and I would try to negotiate who could use the computer for that amount of time. Homework always took precedence, and then games took second place because my siblings needed something to get their minds off the current situation.
I decided that since I couldn’t type my words, I’d write them. Whenever I could snag a free composition notebook or paper somewhere, I’d do it (no, I didn’t steal anything, I’d just use paper from the recycling bins at school, or ask my mom to get me a composition notebook when they were on sale for 50 cents or less). I wrote so many words on paper, and my ideas exploded on these pages. To this day I write ideas on paper, but I type my articles and stories on my laptop. What I’m getting at is that you don’t have to have the resources to reach your goals now.
Everyone starts somewhere, so start where you are.
How can you creatively use what you have to start working towards your goals now?
It’s time to stop reaching only 1-2% of your goals and time to start reaching all 100% of your goals! You can totally do this! Start applying some of the tips here and let me know in the comments what you’re committing to do!
Lots and lots of aloha,
Lei
P.S. If you’re looking for more ways to improve your habits and reach those goals, check out my FREE 5 Hawaiian Days to Wellness Mini Course!
