Obnoxious I know. But oh, so true!

How many times have you set a goal for yourself, and it fizzled? Fitness. Weight loss. Business. Financial. New job. Relationship. Family.

BTW, have you set goals for yourself for the New Year?

(Don’t worry, it’s not too late!)

Write some goals NOW around your business, finances, personal life, or things you’ve always wanted to do but never did. Write them down NOW.

My teenage daughter Julia writes her goals on the inside cover of her school notebook. This way, she sees the goals every day and they remind her to stay focused and keep making progress.

Goals tend to fall into one of 8 categories – Career, Financial, Health, Family, Self-Improvement, Spiritual, Adventure, and Business.

Here is what gets in the way of hitting our goals!

Lack of Passion
If there is no passion behind your goal, it will come to a screeching halt. Do you feel so strongly about your goal that you’re willing to move time in your schedule to do the work? Does the goal excite you? Is it exciting for you to share the goal with others?

No Clear Outcome
The goal lacks specifics. For example, I’m going to be a more successful financial advisor is an admirable desire but difficult to measure. How will you know if you hit your goal?

Conflict with Self Image
A financial advisor I was coaching once told me that sitting at someone’s dining room table at 7:00 at night was not the way she envisioned making a living. If you have a negative self-image related to your goal (I hate the gym), you will never hit your goal.

No Action Steps
A goal is only as good as the action steps taken. If you don’t focus on taking action steps every day or at least every week, you’ll never reach your desired outcome. Ask an author how they went about writing their book. They don’t just sit down one day and keep writing. How do you eat an elephant?

Bad Timing
Everybody is busy! Juggling a work schedule, aging parents, activities with kids, family obligations, and whatever else is a challenge for everyone. The timing to work on the goal must be right. When will the timing be better? Will the timing ever be better? The key is deciding when the right time is and posting it in the calendar. It’s just that simple.

Time is Not Scheduled
Plan your work and work your plan. I find that carving out time at the same time every morning (at least 2 hours) works best. Allocate that time for the specific action steps necessary to hit your goal. Then, schedule the time in your calendar for daily or weekly tasks and block that time with your life. Not that easy I know!

Completion Date
Goals work best if there is accountability around a completion date. Most goals tend to be for the year. I find it’s much more effective if you create a goal around a shorter period of time to create more immediacy and urgency around the outcome. 3-month goals (quarterly) tend to work well, provided those goals directly lead to a bigger vision.

What is YOUR next step?