The top two biggest goal setting obstacles is fear and lack of belief in yourself. Fear of failure affects us so much at times that we may avoid any initiative in setting goals.
Perhaps if you’re aware of some of the most common goal setting obstacles you can work toward overcoming them. So today, I’m sharing with you “EIGHT common goal setting obstacles”, plus “TEN goal setting tools to help you succeed in reaching your goals”.
1. You Don’t Want What You Think You Want
Some goals are set because other people want them for you. If you don’t really want what you say you want, it will be very difficult to set a goal to achieve it.
Be sure that you’ve set goals for the right reasons and that it’s something you really want. Praying about your goals and asking for God’s wisdom can really help you determine the right goals for your life.
>> Write down the pros and cons of any goal and know WHY you want to achieve that result.
2. You Don’t Truly Understand the Importance of Goal Setting
Many people think that goal setting just doesn’t really work. To understand the importance of goal setting, read a couple of good books about success; you’ll discover that the most successful people set realistic goals, and then worked that goal into their schedule every single day. Even people who experience “overnight success” didn’t really achieve everything overnight. It was many nights of following a plan that brought their results.
3. You’re Not Really Sure How to Set a Reasonable Goal
If you’ve actually tried to set a goal before but didn’t experience results, it’s probably because you just don’t know how to set a goal. It’s not as easy as just writing down a dream. Goals aren’t dreams. They are realistic, specific, achievable end results that you want to see. Pray about your goals. Seek God’s wisdom. Take the time to learn the best goal setting techniques to experience SUCCESS in goal setting.
4. You’re Scared of Failure
Many people do not bother setting goals because they have a self-limiting belief that they’ll fail anyway. They subconsciously feel that if they do not set a goal, they won’t have to feel like a failure. But remember that the idea of planning to succeed over planning to fail is realistic. No goal setting is a recipe for failure; goal setting is a recipe for success. When you accept that you can only achieve real success through goal setting, you’ll overcome this obstacle.
5. You’re Afraid of Judgment
Sometimes people are scared to set a goal for something because they see it as outrageous. For instance, let’s say that you want to go back to college to get a Master’s degree, or you want to start your own business. You fear that if you set that goal and other people know about the goal, they’ll judge you harshly for wanting it or for some other imagined issue. If you are worried about what others think of you, it’s time to dig deep inside yourself and get over it.
The truth is, pleasing God and caring what He thinks is all that matters. What anyone else thinks is irrelevant. Stop worrying about the judgment of others.
6. You’re Afraid of Success
Believe it or not, some people are literally afraid of success. (I’ve struggled with this very issue myself.) They feel too much pressure surrounding success to actually make goals to be successful. They are more comfortable in their role as someone who is not successful or who is considered average instead of as someone who sets goals, works toward achieving it, and is seen as a success. The truth is, there will always be people who want to tear you down once you achieve some success, but the saddest thing in life is regretting not doing something. Most people regret the things they did not do, more than the things they did do.
7. You Secretly Don’t Think You’re Worth It
Sometimes we are our own biggest obstacle. We don’t believe our self capable, nor do we feel worthy to succeed.
Psalms 139:14 says, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
You are a work that God created. His works are marvelous! You are wonderfully made!
We often feel worthless when we do nothing to make positive changes. If you see yourself as someone who doesn’t follow through, who doesn’t succeed and who can’t change their life, you’ll avoid goal setting like the plague. You’re the only person who can control your actions. You’re the only one who can set the goals for you, and you are the only one who can do something to make yourself feel worthwhile.
8. You Don’t Really Believe It’s Possible
People avoid goal setting because they simply do not see the vision of what’s possible. They don’t believe they can do
it. They don’t picture themselves fully at the point of success, nor experiencing success. Since they think it can’t happen, they don’t even try.
The truth is, you can’t know for sure about anything unless you follow the steps necessary to reach a goal. You can dream big, and reach for the stars. The effort of trying is more important than actually making it…and, chances are that if you really put forth the effort, you will make it!
But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. ~Matthew 19:26
Goal setting is vital if you want to truly see all your dreams and visions come to fruition. It doesn’t matter if it’s business oriented or personal – setting realistic, achievable goals, and then working toward realizing that goal on a daily basis does work. You just have to do the work!
10 Goal Setting Tools to Help You Succeed
You can use an old-fashioned paper and pen to make and set your goals if you wish, but I’m also going to share a few other resources that you can use…
Today there are so many wonderful online tools and software that can help make goal setting fun and easy. When something is fun and easy, you’re more likely to stick to it long enough to actually achieve the success you desire.
1. Goal-Buddy – Using this cloud-based software you can name, set, and manage your goals easily. It leads you step-by-step through questions for what your goals are so that they are S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely) goals. Then you can use the system to track your goals through milestones that you set as the days go by.
*Link – http://www.goal-buddy.com/
2. Mint – If you need to get control over your finances, want to set up goals such as establishing a six-month emergency savings account, start a business and other goals, you can use this software to track your financial success and projections.
*Link – https://www.mint.com/
3. Basecamp – This is really a project management system, but any goal has to have actionable steps involved or milestones and tasks to take to reach success. You can use Basecamp for any type of actionable steps and it will even email you a reminder to do the task. This can work with your business life or personal life.
*Link – http://www.basecamp.com/
4. Google Calendar – Where were we before Google Calendar came alone? Unorganized, for sure. This is such a handy calendar that you can use for the most important areas of your life. Be it family, personal, financial or physical – you can set your goals and work your way back inserting actionable steps and tasks to do each day. You can then let it email you a daily task list so you never leave anything out.
*Link – http://www.google.com/calendar
5. Dream it Alive – A powerful visualization tool representing your goals and dreams by pictures and inspirational phrases. Dreamboards® help you focus on and achieve life goals that make you feel happy and fulfilled.
*Link – http://www.dreamitalive.com/
6. Lifetick – If you want a very in-depth goal setting software, this is it. It helps you traverse the four important areas where you should be setting goals and then view how they overlap and work with each other. This software helps you define your core values, and develop S.M.A.R.T. goals as well as track everything.
*Link – https://www.lifetick.com/
7. GoalsOnTrack – This software is a lot like Lifetick but has features that help you “chunk down” any goal into reasonable and easy-to-follow steps. Their whole idea is that you want to do less but get more. This software’s features encompass the 80/20 rule and puts it to work for goal setting and achieving.
*Link – http://www.goalsontrack.com/
8. Goalscape – If you like to visualize your goals in pictures, charts, and graphs then you might like Goalscape. You’ll create a kind of wheel with your goal in the middle and everything you need to do to reach the goal will circle it. So you can see it in one glance.
*Link – http://www.goalscape.com/
9. 42 Goals – This site offers a simple tool for tracking your daily goals and keeping a log of your daily activities. It helps you to set up your goals, record your daily progress and visualize your achievements.
*Link – http://www.42goals.com/
10. Smart Goals Templates – If you like templates, these are some free goal setting templates that are based on filling in the blanks for your goals. They will help you go over the various goals setting steps needed to achieve results in both your personal life and career and business life.
*Link – http://www.smart-goals-guide.com/free-goal-setting-worksheets-forms-and-templates.html
11. Drop Task – Okay, just ONE more. 🙂 Visual To-Do List: Complete all of your daily errands and easily plan anything from your vacation to your shopping list. Project Management Software: Friendly enough for the entire team, with powerful functionality for projects of any size. Time Management Software: Boost efficiency and never miss a deadline again.
*Link – https://www.droptask.com/
Whichever type of software (if any) you feel you need to use for goal setting and goal realization is up to you. The important thing is that you visualize the results of any goal, write it out, and then take steps toward achieving the goal.
