Goal Achievement – Why Some Do and Some Don’t

Why Do Some People Achieve Their Goals Where Others Don’t?

How many of you have worked toward accomplishing a goal but the motivation and drive to get there began to wean?  The reason this happened is not because you didn’t have the ability, will power or desire, it’s usually due to not having had the right mental focus and preparation to reach the goal.  When the National Institutes of Health examined failed attempts to lose weight, quit smoking or exercise, they found that the most common reason for failure was due to not setting the groundwork or having the right focus.

It is important to take necessary steps in creating a positive mental focus before attempting any life style changes when it comes to attaining your goals.  Our thoughts and self-talk affect how we view and manifest situations in our lives, therefore it is essential that your self-talk is in alignment with your goals based on your desired outcome.

Below are 4 steps of which will help propel you forward in achieving your goals.

1)  Set your intention and define your goals. Make them realistic, make them reachable and make them yours.  To achieve a goal, it’s important for you to consider the pros and cons of making the changes.  Tell yourself what you want to achieve, not about what you don’t want. An example would be; “I am eating healthily”, not “I don’t eat sweets”; as the subconscious mind deletes the word don’t, and what you actually might hear is “I eat sweets”.

When talking to yourself about your desired outcome, state it in the first person, present tense and positive. Make sure your goals are not based on a need to, have to and, or should do, as those words oftentimes cause us to rebel against the process.  We need to stop SHOULDing on ourselves; and then align ourselves with what we want to do.

2)  Acknowledge yourself each step along the way. Gather information on what works for you and what doesn’t and then make the changes accordingly.  When an attempt doesn’t produce the desired results, take a moment to ask yourself what changes you need to make to put yourself on the right path that will help you move forward in creating a successful outcome.

Sometimes we may lack confidence in our ability to realize our goals because an earlier endeavor had failed.  But, when you make a commitment to yourself and plan to succeed with the right mental focus, then the next attempt becomes the last effort in completing each goal. Your mindset will now be in the framework of knowing that you are succeeding, therefore you will.

3)  Set a time line.  Accomplishing a goal requires more than just a desire it requires a time line and a plan.  It’s not enough to tell yourself that you want, will or are going to achieve something; those words without a time line represent the ‘future’, therefore without a time line the subconscious mind doesn’t know when you will reach it.  Set a time line for when you plan to have already accomplished your desired outcome. Make it realistic, and reachable.  There is a difference between striving for a goal verses accomplishing it.  Every small step you take in moving toward your goal brings you that much closer to the reality of you achieving it. Take few moments daily to envision how wonderful you’ll feel when you get there. Acknowledge ever step along the way.

1. Learn from set backs as they are inevitable when pursuing one’s goals.  To succeed you must never look at set backs as a failure but as an opportunity to learn from that experience and bring that wisdom forward as you move closer to your goals.

Set your intention on the end result as you focus on what you have, what you like and what you want. Focus is like a penlight in the dark, it illuminates only a very small portion of what surrounds us.  Whatever you choose to illuminate make it bright and alluring, as that becomes the direction our life move towards.

To Your Success,

Marla Brucker, DCH, R.HA