What is Holding you Back from Achieving Your Goals?
Do you have a goal that you want to achieve but you’re finding it difficult to take that first step toward making your goal happen? What is stopping you from taking action? Not being able to get started, is a huge roadblock that many of us face after defining a goal.
Here are four goal setting obstacles I often face with my clients, along with a way for you to re-frame the challenges. Use this information to start taking action towards accomplishing your goals now!
4 Goal Setting Obstacles + Ways to Reframe the Challenge
1. Feel overwhelmed.
Does your goal seem too massive to even start working on it? If so, break the goal down into workable chunks and tackle one small step or activity at a time.
To live a healthy lifestyle, you’ve got to build up a combination of hundreds of small, healthy habits. Your small actions may seem insignificant, but they give you the momentum you need to get started. Remember, there is no magic bullet. Feeling and looking like you lead a healthy life takes time and effort to achieve.
2. Fear of failure.
Are you afraid of what you and others will think of you if you aren’t able to reach your goal? If this is the case, just think about how much better off your life will be if you can even accomplish half of what you ultimately want to.
There will be days when it is harder to follow your healthy living habits. You may even fall off the wagon a few times. The key is, get back on track as quickly as possible! Enlist a friend, family member or fitness professional to be there to steer you back on track when times get tough. Remember, tackling any portion of your goal is a success!
3. “All or nothing” thoughts.
Do you worry that you’ll have to follow the plan you map out to reach your goal, 100% of the time? I’m always bringing up the 80/20 rule, because when you follow this line of thinking, your healthy living habits will be sustainable.
No one can follow a perfect eating plan 100% of the time, it’s a lot more realistic to focus on eating healthy 80% of the time. Plan for events that may derail you one month, like a vacation, an increased number of social events or visitors coming into town. Eat cleaner and work out harder before and after these events so that you’re able to be a little more relaxed during them.
4. Comparison with others.
Are you constantly worried about how your friends and co-workers have progressed with their healthy lifestyle? Stop it! Goal setting is one time when you really shouldn’t be competitive with others. Your objectives should be tied to reaching your own potential, focus on being the best version of you.
Every person’s situation is different. Focus on how to achieve what makes sense for you in this exact momment in time. Your situation and priorities may change in the future, but stay focussed on the present, and what makes sense for you to tackle this day, week, month and year.
Make your Dreams a Reality this Year!
Don’t let these 4 obstacles stop you from reaching your goals this year. Although it’s never too late to start bettering yourself or your situation, the best time to start is now!
To Sum it Up…
Not taking action is a huge roadblock that many of us face after defining a goal. Feeling overwhelmed, fearing failure, embracing ‘all or nothing’ thinking and making constant comparisons are some of the common goal setting obstacles I see as a personal trainer. Try re-framing the challenges as highlighted above, to tackle them this year.