When Goals Go Bad

In Achieving Your Goals we looked at the rewards and subsequent steps that come with achieving a goal. But as so many of us know, it's all too easy to give up on a goal or resolution before it comes to fruition. When that happens we become discouraged and complacent with our current lot in life. After all, why should we stress ourselves out by futilely trying to set an insurmountable goal?

Guess what? You're right!

Do Not Waste Your Time With Insurmountable Goals

But before you think I'm advocating giving up or not setting goals and challenges for yourself, make sure you continue reading.

Sometimes good plans can go awry, and when that happens we shouldn't kick ourselves or be afraid of analyzing what went wrong. Sometimes we may find the problem was a lack of motivation. If this is the case, try to determine exactly what caused the loss of motivation so that you can address it.

Here are a few indicators that the goals worksheet (or your goal itself, if you didn't take the time to prepare a worksheet) is to blame:

  • You felt that your goal was too tough to achieve, and thereby lost your motivation. Only you can honestly assess your efforts against the feasibility of the goal you set, but it is very easy to set an unrealistically high goal.
  • You felt that the goal was just not important or worthy of bothering with. This would indicate that your goal was either not challenging enough (the thrill of the hunt is what motivates most of us, even if we don't actually realize it) or it would indicate your priorities have changed over time and thus your current goal is no longer important to you.
  • You failed to create a productive goals worksheet and therefore your course was not charted properly. You knew what your goal was, but without a firm plan to achieve it you lost your path and direction.
  • You have too many goals! One of the reasons prioritization is so important is that if we try to set too many goals at once our efforts will be so divided that we're left exhausted and unmotivated. In addition, when you're pulled in too many directions you can't really give the necessary focus required to any of your goals.

Trying to follow a flawed goals worksheet will only set yourself up for failure and the inevitable loss of self-confidence and self-esteem that comes with it. While failing a goal is by no means the end of the world, if you know your goal will sap your willpower then you should remedy it.

Previous - Achieving Your Goals Next - A Form For Setting Goals