Why 92% of People Don't Achieve Their Goals

Almost everyone is amazing, expert level, at setting goals but research shows that only 8% of people achieve their goals.

Let’s look at the common mistakes people make when working towards achieving their goals and how you can avoid them and achieve yours.

Mistake #1: Non-Specific Goals

One of the most common mistakes people make when setting goals for the year is being vague.

“I want to be stronger.”

“I want to save more money”

“I want to go out more”

These aren’t goals.

These are wishes and wishes don’t always come true. There’s too much room for anything to happen and no commitment.

A good way to measure if your goal is specific or not is to use the SMART goals framework.

• Is it specific?

• Is it measurable?

• Is it achievable?

• Is it realistic?

• Is it time-bound?

The main things you want to focus on to create a hyper-specific goal are measurable and time-bound.

Taking the wishes above, we can turn them into hyper-specific goals like this:

“I want to be stronger” → I want to be able to do 20 push-ups or squat my body weight within 6 months

“I want to save more money” → I want to save $10,000 by 21st of September 2024

“I want to go out more” → I want to go out on a hike every Sunday/ I want to check out an art gallery every second week.

Most people think they lack the motivation to go after their goals, but really what they lack is clarity.

When you have clarity on exactly what you want to achieve, it’s more actionable. When it’s more actionable, you’re more likely to achieve it.

Mistake #2: Not Having A Plan or Process

Knowing what you want to achieve is great, but if you don’t know HOW you’re going to achieve it, you won’t.

Focusing on the desire doesn’t equal its achievement.

This is also how people get trapped in wishful thinking. They spend so much time thinking about what they want, but they never go after it.

This is where planning and having process goals come in.

Process goals help us break down the long-term goal into what we need to do daily and weekly.

We are turning the goal into actions we can take.

If your goal is to be able to squat your bodyweight (outcome), you need to know how much you need to train weekly and lift at each session (process)

The process could look like this:

• Month: Lift 12 times

• Weekly: lift 3 - 4x a week and progressively overload each session

• Today’s goal: lift Xkg for 10 reps and 3 sets

When you break down the outcome goal into a plan you can take action on and a process to follow, you can make consistent progress towards the goal.

You focus less on the goal because you know with every action you take, you are getting closer to it.

As you watch yourself make daily and weekly progress, you will be more motivated to keep going.

So once you have specified the goal, break it down into a plan and build systems around the goal that make it easy for you to take action and stay consistent.

Mistake #3: Warped Priorities

People fail to stay motivated and stick to their plans because of overthinking.

When you break down your goal and the actions you need to take to achieve it, you might find that there are 20 elements to the goal.

Then when you create the plan and system, you get overwhelmed by all the things you need to do and abandon the plan altogether.

Or you try to do all the actions but see no progress.

The biggest issue here is having warped priorities.

You only have so much time and energy. 

And if you don’t invest your efforts into the right things, progress will feel a lot harder than it needs to be.

So what you want to do to gain clarity on the things that move the needle forward is focusing on the 20% using Pareto’s 80/20 principle.

If you identify that there are 20 elements to your goal, focus on 20% of those elements (5 elements).

The other 15 will be set to aside for now or they can be automated, delegated or eliminated.

Your focus is to systematise the 5 elements and make them part of your day-to-day.

As Pareto’s Principle states:

Mistake #4: Going At It Solo

In 2022, I started doing kickboxing because I hadn’t done a martial arts style since high school and I thought kickboxing would be easy to adapt to from when I did MMA.

I had set the ‘small’ goal of placing first in at least 1 tournament that would be held throughout the year.

What I didn’t expect was to fight and win my first-ever ring fight in October of that year.

When I look back at how I was able to accomplish such an achievement, it comes down to my coach and team.

Those of us who wanted to compete in the tournaments would train 2 extra sessions every week.

It was early in the morning and if I was alone, I would have missed a lot of those sessions.

But because I had my team to show up for and my coach, I made sure to show up. No matter how tired I was.

The ring fight also happened because my coach was certain I was ready. I didn’t think I was, but he was and that conviction in me was enough for me to believe in myself.

In the end, because of their support, I had my first ring fight and I won.

Though you might have a personal goal that you are working towards, it doesn’t mean you have to go at it alone.

The problem with pursuing a goal by yourself is that there’s no one holding you accountable.

You are the best salesperson you know.

It’s so easy to rationalise your own excuses or accept lower standards of yourself when no one is watching.

But if you do have someone watching you, depending on you, you’re far less likely to give them those same excuses.

So the best thing you can do is join forces with other like-minded people.

This can be an accountability partner who works out with you.

Or a community of other entrepreneurs if you are building a business.

Or even a guide who you can console and ask for advice from.

You don’t have to be a lone wolf; seek community and accountability.

It’s a powerful and simple way to increase your chances of success.

2024 is far from over.

When you have clarity and the right structure, you can achieve anything.

You might even surprise yourself and surpass your goals.

Here’s how:

1. Set specific goals

2. Have a plan and process goals

3. Get your priorities straight

4. Have accountability

— Shana