Why do some people achieve their goals while others fail? I believe its because successful people manage to overcome five barriers that, in many cases, guarantee failure. Here are those barriers and how to overcome them: 1. Uninspiring Goals When most people set goals, they envision a thing, such as a particular amount of money, an object (like a new car), or a specific achievement (like writing a book). Unfortunately, these things Im gonna get or do goals dont appeal to the core of what motivates you, because they miss the point that what youre actually seeking in life and work is the POSITIVE EMOTIONS that you believe those things will produce. Fix: Rather than envisioning a thing as your goal, envision--with all the strength in your imagination--how you will feel when you achieve the goal. That way, youll be inspired to do whatever it takes (within spiritual, legal and ethical bounds) to achieve that goal. 2. Fear of Failure If youre afraid of failing, you wont take the necessary risks required to achieve your goal. For example, you wont make that important phone call, because youre afraid that youll be rebuffed. Or you wont quit your dead-end job and start your own business because youre afraid that you might end up without any money. Fix: Decide--right now!--that failure, for you, is a strictly temporary condition. If things dont go the way youd like, its only a setback that, at most, delays your eventual success. In other words, accept the fact that youll sometimes fail, but treat that failure as an unavoidable (yet vital) component in your quest. 3. Fear of Success In many ways, this fear is even more debilitating than the fear of failure. Suppose you achieved something spectacular, like enormous wealth. What if it didnt make you happy? What then? What if you ended up losing all of it? What then? Would your friends start acting weird? Would your family be envious? Such thoughts (and theyre common) can cause even a highly motivated person to self-sabotage. Fix: Decide that youre going to be happy and grateful today and happy and grateful in the future, no matter what happens. Rather than focus on possible problems, envision how wonderful it would be to be able to help your friends and family achieve THEIR goals. 4. An Unrealistic Timetable Most people vastly overestimate what they can do in a week and vastly underestimate what they can do in a year. Because of this, most people try to cram too many action items into the short term rather than spacing out activities over the long term. The inability to get all the short-term steps accomplished creates discouragement and the impression that the final goal is slipping away. Fix: As you list the activities and steps required to achieve a goal, schedule only the 20% of the activities that will produce 80% of your results. Beyond that, set ambitious long-term timetables, but always leave some wiggle room when you plan short term. 5. Worrying about Dry Spots Its easy to get discouraged when you reach a point at which nothing you do seems to advance you toward your goal. For example, suppose youre trying to master a certain skill. You make swift progress at first but then, after a while, it seems as if youre not doing any better or maybe a little worse. Some people use these plateaus or dry spots as an excuse to give up and therefore fail. Fix: Whenever you reach a plateau or dry spot, its time to celebrate rather than give up. A plateau is almost always a sign that youre on the brink of a major breakthrough, if you just have the patience to stick with it and trust that youll eventually achieve your goal. #DeRckvanPierre
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 08:47:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015