Have you ever tasted failure in reaching your goals? 
Did you know that feeling good, being happy, is one of the “forgotten ingredients” to being successful and achieving your goals? Did you know that happy people know how to set and achieve goals?
When most people fail, they feel cheated. They blame the people around them. They make excuses. While very few people look in the mirror when they fail, even fewer recognize the true source of their failure – their goals. The way you go about setting and achieving your goals will make or break your success.
The most common goal-related problems fall into one of six categories. Read below to figure out which of these goal-destroying habits have kept you from success in the past:
- You Set an Unreachable Goal
You’ve probably heard that if you want to succeed, then you need to shoot for the stars. After all, shoot for the stars and you’re bound to at least hit the moon, right? You might justify your unreachable goals by saying that you want to be challenged. You might believe that a big, out-of-this-world goal will motivate you to succeed. Unfortunately, goals are only motivational if you genuinely believe that they’re achievable. By setting goals that you know deep down are impossible to achieve, you’re inviting stress, discouragement and doubt into your life. You’re practically laying down a welcome mat for not achieving your goals. - You Desired the Negative Part of Your Goal
“I want to get out of debt.” “I’m getting rid of this flabby gut.” “I’m not going to neglect my wife.” These are each an example of setting your desire on the negative part of your goal. The most effective goals are the ones that push you to focus on what you want, not on what you don’t. If you only focus on what you don’t want, then you’re subconsciously undermining your own confidence. So, set your goals in a way that magnifies a positive outcome or benefit of that achievement. - You Blamed Others for Your Failure
Our natural reaction to failure is irresponsibility. And hey, I get it! Looking in the mirror is tough. Admitting that you’re solely responsible for where you are in life takes guts. Especially if you feel like a failure. But, guess what? It’s like your kindergarten teacher used to say – every time you point your finger at someone else, you point three fingers back at yourself. Avoiding responsibility won’t make your life any better; it only prolongs your suffering. - You Made a Habit of Procrastination
Procrastination in our society borders on an epidemic. Everyone procrastinates. At least, everyone around you procrastinates, right? While procrastination is a pervasive and persistent problem, it has a very simple solution. After all, the opposite of procrastination is action. Nothing complicated about that. So, if you want to stop procrastinating, start taking action. It should be that easy, right?But, what many people miss is that you can’t just take action once. You have to build a habit of taking action. Trust me, once you cross that action-threshold for the first time, it gets easier and easier every time thereafter. - You Had No Vision
You didn’t allow yourself to experience your success ahead of time. Sure, maybe you wrote down your goals. Maybe you even kept them somewhere visible. But if you didn’t take time to visualize the positive feelings of your future success, then all is for naught. We all know that our goals should motivate us. What most people miss is that visualization – living out your goal in your mind’s eye – is an essential step to creating that motivation. Visualization is how you feel good about your goal. Which brings us nicely to… - You Didn’t Feel Good About Your Goal
Maybe you doubted your ability to achieve your goal. Maybe you were unsatisfied with your progress. Or maybe your goal just didn’t make you happy. Either way, how you feel has a deep effect on your success and productivity. Unfortunately, many people fail because they believe there’s no way to control their feelings. If this describes you, then your life probably feels sporadic. Bipolar. Unpredictable. You probably feel like you have no control over your life’s direction, like nothing ever goes as planned.
What’s the Next Step?
Avoiding these six, goal-destroying habits is an important first step. You’re well on your way towards feeling good about your goals, which makes you happier, which takes you in an upward spiral towards more success. However, if you want to kick-start your success and maximize your life, you’re probably going to want to learn more about how to experience positive emotions on a more consistent basis. This is important. As Napoleon Hill said in Think and Grow Rich, “It is essential for you to encourage the positive emotions as dominating forces of your mind, and discourage – and eliminate negative emotions. ”
Thanks for reading, and best of luck!
