Why Goal Setting Is Important
Our business leaders set goals at the end of every year to roll into the new year with clear metrics of success.
This is called strategic planning which includes goal planning.
Goal planning outlines the resources needed, including time, money, personnel, and more to make them happen. Knowing this, we’ll examine why people don’t hit their goals and ways to make them happen.
Goals vs. Objectives
People love big goals, and they hate to outline their objectives. This is critical because it explains why so many people get frustrated when they don’t achieve their goal.
What’s the difference between a goal and an objective you ask?
Objectives are the specific actions and measurable steps you must take to reach your goals. They give you a clear understanding of the specific tasks or projects that need to be completed in order to get closer to the primary goal.
For example, your goal may be to save $5000 this year. While that’s an awesome goal, not having a clearly identified objective and step by step process to earn $5000 and put it into savings will not get you there. In this scenario, the goal is clear and the objectives need to be laid out:
- Open a savings account
- Track monthly savings deposits
- Talk with tax planner to learn about pre-tax contributions and their benefits to reach this goal
- Work with a coach or find a mentor to learn better money management skills
- Up-level at work to earn more money to save
As you can see, a big goal without clearly defined objectives is difficult to reach because there is too much ambiguity and no clear roadmap in how to reach the goal.
Top 3 Reasons Why People Don’t Hit Their Goals
Through my years of coaching people, here are the top three reasons I’ve seen firsthand as to why people to not achieve their goals and my advice to turn things around.
- Unrealistic Goals and Too Short On Time. I believe humans can reach their goals, do the unthinkable, and achieve far more than they think if they have the right resources, strategy, ounce of luck, and mindset to make it happen. If you set out to be a billionaire and cannot manage the money you currently have, the odds of becoming a billionaire are slim; and the odds of keeping that money should luck play out, against you 100%. Setting big goals is important, but being realistic in where you’re at, what you don’t know, what you need to know, and what you can do to get there is critical; and having the right timeframe in mind to get there is mandatory. In today’s era of being hyper-connected and seeing the facade of success, its important to research how people got to where you want to be; if they did it on their own or if they came from money; and what their journey looked like before they were in the seat you aspire to be in. Having the right context as you plan your goal will make it much more rewarding as you achieve your goal, reset your goal target, and move onward with a bigger goal, step by step.
- Task Masters Don’t Dream Beyond The Day. In life, there are the big dreamers who have a ton of goals and who are too impatient to enjoy the journey, and then there are the task masters who spend a ton of time in every little detail that they fail to look out to see the world around them as it changes in rapid time, offering more possibilities than what’s comfortable in the control zone. For individuals who are a high C on the DiSC personality profile and extremely detail/task oriented, I find that these individuals get frustrated wanting more, yet they don’t dream beyond the next task on their list. The challenge in this situation is not with objectives, it is creating bigger goals, and freeing oneself from a rigid way of thinking to explore creative, big picture ideas that can actually come true when these individuals put their step by step planning into action believing in the goal they just created.
- Limiting Beliefs. When I sold into Fortune 500 companies and worked with C-level executives, I dressed the part and I never thought that I was unworthy of being in the same room as a CEO of a billion or multi-million dollar company; in fact, I was with numerous executives in short time because I honed by craft as a sales executive, and I felt worthy of who I am, and the value I was delivering. That said, I exceeded sales goals and had people talking about “who the heck is this guy and how did he get to that CEO?” I set my goals high and believed I was worthy of achieving them; I also did the work, attended executive sales training for one year; and took each meeting as serious as a championship game because reputation matters. Never limit your beliefs on what’s possible and if someone thinks you can’t achieve a goal, game on!
Coaching Can Help You Make It Happen
If you’re like millions of driven people in this world, odds are you have goals and want to achieve them. Here’s where coaching comes in.
As a coach, I work with driven individuals helping them clarify their goals so that the time spent towards achieving their goals is used wisely, and if applied correctly, helps them achieve their goals.
From executive coaching to helping people up-level in their careers as new leaders, I love helping people as a coach and being a part of their journey as they achieve their goals.
If you have a goal that you would like help achieving, schedule a FREE call with me at the link below to get the conversation started. Seriously, what do you have to lose?
