A great deal has been written about how to achieve your goals. But for most of us, we still have goals that remain unrealized. We’ve failed, been frustrated and sometimes never even got started.
So here’s a quick Top Ten list to help you zero in on what’s missing, what’s stopping you and what you need to focus—or refocus—upon to achieve your goals.
- Lack of Clarity. Very few people are clear enough about what they want to achieve. Their goals are simply not specific enough, they aren’t measurable, they lack a target date, and there is little way to know when, if ever, they will achieve them. They’re also not written down. You can’t hit a goal you can’t see any more than you can come back from a place you’ve never been.
- Not Enough Reasons. A big enough why will overcome any of the challenges on this list. Reasons come first, answers come second. The Universe seems to hang on to the answers and gives them up only to those who are sufficiently motivated and inspired. Find and enhance your why and you will almost assuredly win.
- Not Having a Clear Plan. Not being sure of the next step creates more procrastination than almost anything else. You have to have a plan. It may not get followed exactly, but planning is essential.
- Insufficient Knowledge. Never in the history of the world has knowledge been so easy and inexpensive to acquire. Not knowing can be easily solved by learning what you need to know or hiring someone who already knows it. Never let this be an excuse.
- Lack of Belief. This one can be a little tougher to recognize and to defeat. Do you have faith the goal can be achieved? Do you believe you can do it? If it’s been done, you can learn from those who have done it. If it’s never been done you can be the first. You do have to believe in order to make the effort to achieve.
- Insufficient Skills. Like Number 4 above, learning how to do something or hiring it done has never been easier. You do, however, need to know what skills will likely be needed to get the job done. What resources, skills, talents and attitudes will be needed?
- Lack of Focus. Distractions are aplenty. Like weeds, they appear without effort. Our job is to work at eliminating and reducing those distractions. A powerful WHY will go a long way in pushing them aside.
- Not Enough Accountability. For most of our important goals, we don’t have a boss. And there may be few to whom we have to answer. It’s up to us to generate the accountability, tracking, consequences and rewards to create the accountability we need.
- Lack of Health/Energy. Vince Lombardi, the great football coach said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Not having good health or vitality is a serious challenge for sure. But it CAN be overcome or worked around. It’s a matter of playing the hands we are dealt and making the most of it. It should never be used as an excuse.
- Not Enough Support. Far too many people try to go it alone without sufficient support. But any successful athlete, explorer or professional will tell you that to go after anything substantial, you need help. You need a team or a coach or both. Get the support you need.
Your goals, dreams and aspirations are worthy of your best efforts. You need to POSITION yourself to win.
This article was originally published on SuccessNet.org in 2008.
