A goal is a dream with a deadline ~Napoleon Hill
Success starts in the mind. The first thing a person needs to do if he wants to succeed in life or in anything that he wants to do is to set his mind at having a goal or goals. Success does not come easy. To achieve success, goals must be set and defined first, and then the steps to achieve those goals can be formulated.
Studies have consistently indicated that setting definitive and demanding goals can effectively motivate behavior and improve performance. According to one study, Enron’s rapid financial success in the late 1990s was fueled by definitive and challenging goals. Another study showed that “specific and challenging goals lead to a higher level of performance than do easy goals or vague, abstract goals.”
The obstacles to achieving goals
Learning to set goals is the easy part. It is achieving them that are a risky proposition since reality has a nasty habit of throwing a monkey wrench on our plans. Let’s look at some of the possible obstacle to achieving goals:
- Action crisis
When obstacles start to pile up doubts as to the one’s ability to achieve the goal sometimes creep in. This is a stage psychologists call the “action crisis,” the critical point at which a person faces an internal struggle of whether to endure or capitulate. The study revealed that an action crisis boosts thegeneration of cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol is discharged in response to crisis. Excessive cortisol could hamper performance and could add to the feeling of wanting to abandon the goal altogether, and could even cause illness such as high blood pressure.
- Over-fantasizing
A research indicated that over-fantasizing, or building castle in the air about what the goal you want to achieve can ruin the chances of success. It has to do with expectations. Rational introspection promotes more realistic expectations while fantasizing creates impracticable expectations beclouding one’s perspective as to what needs to be done to achieve the goal.
- Procrastination
Putting off implementing a plan of action for some other day or time or waiting for the right time could hurt your chances of achieving your goal/s. Procrastination usually sets in when we over-think the huge task involved in accomplishing a task, or when we over-imagine the difficulty of the task at hand.
- Lack of action plan
Setting goals should entail planning the strategies to achieve the goal. An action plan breaks down the goal/goals into achievable targets with step-by-step plan of action. A focused, no-nonsense action plan is the action map that will translate an abstract goal to an achievable reality.
- Lack of clarity
Lack of clarity in what we aim to achieve will make it very difficult for us to get there. Sometimes we get so absorbed in details that we lose sight of the big picture. A multitude of trivia can distort a person’s competency to zero in on what is important. Clarity promotes the alignment of purpose and passion so that it becomes the medium to overcoming obstacle and achieving goals.
What have been some of your obstacles to achieving your goals? What action plans do you have for removing or going around the obstacles that hinder you from achieving your goals? I look forward to your comments and responses.
