The Real Key to Achieving Your Goals

The Real Key to Achieving Your Goals

“Don’t get upset by the results you didn’t get; with the work, you didn’t do”

- Zig Ziglar

Have you ever set a goal for yourself that you haven’t achieved?  Even though you feel that goal is quite important to you?  I’m not talking about a goal you have recently set that you are slowly working your way toward.  I’m talking about a goal that maybe you set for yourself a while ago and you haven’t yet acted on.  Maybe it’s a goal that you keep reminding yourself every year to do, but nothing happens.
 
What’s that all about? 

I mean we are good at setting goals, right?  We have lots of examples of goals we have set for ourselves and achieved, so this demonstrates to us that we are competent at setting and achieving goals.
 
So why is it we have these somewhat elusive goals that we just don’t seem to be able to shift the dial on?

We often feel some goals are a good idea but for some reason, we struggle to act.  When this happens, we can feel like we are constantly letting ourselves down by not following through.  It can make us feel like we are failing, and our internal critic is constantly reminding us of that fact.  This creates feelings of doubt, and we will often question whether we can even achieve the goal.  We might think ‘Maybe I’m just not good enough’ or ‘That’s not really me.’  We often think we are the only one who suffers from this affliction so therefore, something must be wrong with us.

It might surprise you to know that Scranton University did some research specifically focused on the achievement of New Year goals.  They found that 92% of people do not achieve these goals.  Now, I’m not a fan of New Year goals or resolutions as I fundamentally feel we set ourselves up for failure with this approach.  After all, why should the 1 January be any more important than the 26 April or the 13 May – or even right now?  Not to mention the goal-setting process itself could probably be better.
 
So, 92% of people failed to achieve their goals.  That’s a staggering number and we want to make sure that if we are setting goals for ourselves, we are part of the 8% who do achieve them.

Personally, I don’t think people don’t achieve their goals because they don’t know what the goals are, or they don’t know how to set and plan the goals (although this can sometimes be the case).  I think it goes way deeper than that.  I think the reason why people don’t achieve these particular goals is an identity issue.  They haven’t yet stepped into being the person who achieves that goal consistently and effortlessly.  They haven’t yet become the future self who does that kind of thing and they don’t yet believe that they can.
 
Now, there can be several reasons for that.  It can be in the way we have (or haven’t) committed to the goal.  Perhaps we haven’t connected to the goal in a way that fits with our whole life and so intuitively we don’t act.  Perhaps our intelligence centers (think brains – head, heart, gut) aren’t all on board and so we fail to act.  Perhaps it’s our relationship with fear – the fear of failure, rejection, or success.  Perhaps we think if we spend time on this personal goal, we are being selfish or self-absorbed.  We think that being a good leader, parent, spouse, and human means we serve everyone else before we spend time on ourselves.  And then, surprise surprise, we don’t have any time left so our own goals keep falling off the list.  Sound familiar?
 
So, there can be many reasons why we are not acting, and we want to gain clarity on what is holding us back so we can move forward.
 
Think of any Hero story in any movie.  There is a pivotal point where the Hero stops resisting, they have a moment of clarity and then step into the person they need to be to achieve the goal or do the thing.  We are all the Hero in our own lives, and we can do this for ourselves.  Sometimes this starts with us taking action – doing one thing, right now.

The Relevance for Organisations

When organisations are sincere about having a workforce that brings their ‘whole selves’ to work, having employees who set and achieve amazing personal goals for themselves helps them to show up and be more engaged and productive in the workplace.  Feelings of confidence and congruence mean each team member can show up as themselves knowing they are the type of person who can achieve the goals they set for themselves.
 
When we have employees who know they can be fully self-expressed at work, we see amazing results and relationships.  We also have an environment that others will want to be part of.
 
So, cultivate a culture that celebrates both the personal and the professional – it just makes good business sense and demonstrates your commitment to true inclusion. 

Need some help

I run a workshop called Tactics to Truth that helps individuals navigate this often challenging and frustrating dilemma.

If you would like to explore how Tactics to Truth can add value to your organisation, let’s chat.  Let’s get clear on your goals and make them happen.