No One Expects failure when setting goals; Three missing elements.

Often by the second week of the new year or even within the first month most people fail or give up on their New Year’s goals. Many of us can relate. We start out motivated and then it fizzles. Sometimes, we choose to try again and sometimes we just let it go.  However, there may be other goals we do accomplish and even exceed.

• Why do some goals stick, and others don’t?
• What can we do be more successful in achieving our goals?

Three key elements are:

1. First, we must make the goal a priority. Not just our priority for the year but we need to make it a priority on a quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily basis. Yes, even daily we must make our goals a priority.

Most people set goals but don’t do anything else When we make a goal, we need to take it a step further and have a plan with strategies that we use. We need to break down our goals into smaller steps with a clear path to get there.  Even on a weekly and daily basis, we need to focus on what we need to do that week or day to take us one step closer and repeat the next week and day.

• How do you make your goal a priority daily?
• What action step can you take daily to help you reach your goal?

For many of us we want to do a lot of things at once, but I write down my top three priorities. Usually, the first one or two are the ones I end up following through on. The higher the priority the more likely you are to work toward it and achieve it.

• Second, it is essential be committed and consistent.

There are several things that we can do to fully commit and work consistently daily. We can do this by assessing and remembering several factors:

• Remember your why – It is important determine and keep referring to your motivational why whenever you feel like giving up. The why should match it with your values and vision.
• Anticipate and plan for obstacles – It is important to anticipate and plan for obstacles so that when they arise, we can stick with it.
• Re-valuate and adjust as needed – Be ready to Re-evaluate and adjust the action steps to accomplishing your goal when the environment changes.

It is not always easy to stay committed and consistent that is why we need to remember our why, anticipate obstacles and how we will work around them. It is crucial to do this daily, so we don’t lose sight of the goal.

• Third, we must have to create immediate deadlines. Our goals, the steps, and the deadlines should be specific, clear, sufficiently difficult, measurable, and actionable.

The more time we give ourselves to complete a goal the more likely we will lose focus, procrastinate, or give us. Therefore, you must have an immediate deadline so give yourselves daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly targets. It is necessary to check at each interval to see if we reached our targets and it get back on track if needed. The more immediate the target the more immediately we can adjust get working toward our goals.

Priorities, commitment as well as consistency, and immediate deadlines will make a difference in the goals we achieve and the goals we don’t.

• What goals do you want to accomplish this year?
• Are there any that you have already quit, and do you need to start over?
• What are you willing to do to make your goals a priority with action steps and immediate deadlines?
• Are you willing to truly commitment and be consistent daily until you accomplish your goals?

Keep moving forward! Don’t give up. Priorities. Commitment. Consistency. Immediate deadlines. You can take action and stay accountable to achieving your goals this year. Don’t wait. You got this!