Having goals is a funny thing. Goals guide us to where we want to be, and they can provide us with some structure when we’re dreaming big! We all like to talk about the things we want to achieve and envision what our lives will be like when we get there.
But reaching our goals is pretty darn hard. If it was so easy, people wouldn’t be struggling so much with losing weight, getting fit, and staying healthy!
Today I am going to share what I consider to be the main 5 reasons that people fail at reaching their goals. If you’re feeling stuck in any way, it’s possible that one of these things is keeping you from getting to where you want to be!
1. YOU DON’T GET SPECIFIC ENOUGH
Think about some of the most common health and fitness goals people make. To lose 20 pounds, to start eating healthy, to get rid of unwanted extra tummy weight. These are all FINE, but what’s missing from these goals is the HOW. What are the incremental, manageable steps that you can start doing to achieve that 20 pound weight loss? When there’s no how behind the what, and when we’re focused solely on the outcome, that’s when we get super overwhelmed and jump ship.
2. YOU TRY DO TOO MUCH TOO SOON
When us women are motivated to make a change, we want the results NOW, don’t we? And instead of being patient, knowing that LASTING change takes TIME, we try to do a major overhaul all at once. We vow to exercise every single day when maybe we’ve been consistently getting to the gym once a week. We say we are going to cut out carbs all together. We say we are going to be in bed every night at 9pm. If we’ve been rocking the 11pm bedtime for 8 months, there’s no WAY lights out at 9pm every single night is happening straight out of the gate. When we shoot for the moon, we set ourselves up for failure, which turns into a downward spiral of “this is too hard, screw it.”
3. YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN YOUR ABILITY TO SUCCEED.
We are often our greatest block! Negative self talk and self-doubt will get us every single time. When we constantly tell ourselves that we’re not good enough and beat ourselves up, guess what? We believe it. One of my favorite sayings is “whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.”
4. YOU DON’T HAVE A STRONG ENOUGH WHY.
The reason we set the goal for ourselves in the first place needs to be strong, it needs to evoke some kind of emotion, and it needs to be super clear. Our why is what keeps us going, day in and day out, even when our motivation is low and we feel like giving up. And trust me, those days WILL happen. So when we feel low motivation, it’s crucial to come back to our whys and remember how achieving the goal will affect our lives. What it *actually* means for us. And hint: “to lose weight” is NOT a strong enough why, ever. 😉
5. YOU ARE TRYING TO GO AT IT ALONE.
Having a support system is CRUCIAL when going for any major goal. Change is hard, and it’s important to have a community that understands that! When we’re successful, it’s often because we have a tribe that has our backs, pushes us when we need it, and gives us the extra motivation and accountability that simply isn’t there when trying to make any sort of habit change on our own. Our people believe in us and help us level up!
Sometimes when we feel like we can’t reach a goal, we assume something is wrong with us, but perhaps there just needs to be some tweaking in the approach! Use these areas to make some shifts and hopefully they help you get that much closer to where you want to be.
Did any of the 5 things in this post resonate with you?
If so, a Fit Body Breakthrough session may be just the thing for you!
My Fit Body Breakthrough sessions are perfect for anyone who wants a little 1:1 coaching time without committing to a full program. No more not getting specific enough, no more trying to do everything at once, no more negative self-doubt, no more having no idea what your motivators are, and no more going at it alone! Book your in person or virtual Fit Body Breakthrough session by clicking on the image above, and we will get you feeling grounded and set up for success no matter what your health and fitness goals are right now.