9 Big Barriers to Your Great Goals

Setting goals – that’s the easy part! Successfully achieving them – that takes dedication and effort!

Think about your targets for this year. How would you rate your progress?

• Failure to launch!
  I set goals but did nothing further, or I never set them.
• Fizzling!
  I set goals and started out strong but things have all but come to a halt.
• Fumbling!
  I set goals and I have been moving forward in fits and starts.
• Fine.
  I set goals and I’m moving forward – just much slower than I had hoped.
• Fabulous!
  I set goals and I’ve reached my goals or I’m close to reaching them.

Breathe easy! No matter where you are compared to where you would like to be, it’s never too late to get intentional, and enjoy a fabulous finish!

If you’ve lacked the traction needed to reach your goals, perhaps you’ve stumbled upon one of these 9 barriers:

1. Setting The Wrong Targets

If your goals aren’t compelling, really compelling to you, odds are that you won’t be willing to do what it takes to reach them. It takes incredible discipline to successfully reach your targets.

Perhaps your targets are the wrong ones altogether. Without great habits in place, achieving big goals is nearly impossible. Don’t underestimate the power of focusing first on the foundational habits that will set you up for success! Habits like…

• • • Planning, reflecting, and evaluating
    • Spending time with God
    • Exercising
    • Getting the sleep and rest you need
    • Eating healthy foods
    • Engaging in life giving activities that energize you
    • Connecting with family and friends
    • Operating with margin
    • Having a morning and evening routine

Without positive habits in place, reaching your target is likely to cost you dearly.

What do you REALLY want? What do you need to have in place to make that possible?

2. Setting Too Many Targets

Feeling super ambitious and ready to change your life and get results? That tends to cause people to set an abundance of goals diluting their efforts. In order to successfully achieve your goals, set not more than three goals so you can adequately invest in them. Once achieved, you can begin tackling another goal, and odds are that you will not only accomplish your top three, but get to some of those other goals too!

How many big goals are you attempting to reach?

3. Bumping Into Your Upper Limits

Maybe you are very enthusiastic about your goals, but in the process of reaching them you keep bumping into your upper limits – the unconscious beliefs that are holding you back and keeping you from embracing and walking in all that God has created you to be.

Your limiting beliefs will sabotage your progress. Which of these six common limiting beliefs are holding you back?

How is your comfort zone preventing your from stretching and growing? How is your Fear Monster holding you back?

4. Running into Unexpected Circumstances

Life sometimes throws you a curve ball – something you could have never anticipated when setting your targets. Circumstances like a new and exciting opportunity or an unwanted challenging situation like illness, job loss or unexpected expenses.

Don’t let your circumstances bog you down. Instead, accept where life is, revise your goals, and put your energy into the action steps that are possible.

What goals makes sense right now in light of your current circumstances? This is not an invitation to make an excuse, but an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade as they say!

5. Lacking Boundaries

Frustrated? Feeling too zapped of energy to pursue your goals or to worn out to enjoy life?

A life without boundaries has a tendency to expand beyond our abilities to manage. A wide path encourages much wandering! Setting boundaries takes skill and practice.

Healthy boundaries enable you to be more focused, say “no” to distractions, and enable you to enjoy more balance in your life.

What boundaries do you need to have in place in order to reach your goals?

6. Having Fuzzy Values

Your top five values are what is most important to you, what you hold most dear. If the way you are doing life is out of sync with your values you are going to feel it! It’s going to rub you wrong! Something will not feel right.

You can’t align your life with your values if you don’t know what they are! What are your Top 5 values? Not sure? Find out here.

How do your goals align with your values?

7. Being Surrounded By Clutter

Clutter holds you back. It cramps your creativity, steals your focus, and creates stress.

Clutter takes on many forms: an overabundance of stuff, disorganization, an overcrowded calendar, or too many unresolved, unexpressed, or resurfacing negative thoughts.

If you want to make powerful progress towards your goals, taking steps to eliminate clutter is essential. You’ll be surprised at how therapeutic that process is and how wonderful you will feel when you are clutter free!

8. Operating With Lone Ranger Mentality

Driven people tend to be independent solo types that resist support and accountability. However, having someone who believes in you and is willing to support your progress makes a significant difference when it comes to successfully accomplishing your goals. In fact, 92% of people who set out to reach goals at the beginning of the year never reach them according to research done by the University of Scranton. That means that only 8% or people have success in reaching their goals.

There’s no magic process to achieving your goals, but attempting reach them with support and accountability increases your odds by as much as 65%. And having a specific appointment with someone like a coach bumps up your odds to 95% according to the Association of Talent Development.

Serious about reaching your goals? Don’t go it alone!

9. Putting Your Efforts Into The Wrong Actions

When it comes to your goals, are you working harder or smarter? Are working your tail off and still not making progress? I see it all the time. In fact, it’s something I’ve been guilty of in the past.

That’s why it’s so important to periodically evaluate your progress to see if your action steps are actually getting you closer to your goals. If they aren’t, don’t be afraid to revamp your plan, get creative, and try new methods. Be sure you’re putting your energy into the action steps that will get you results. You don’t want to be busy and spinning your wheels.

At loss for what else to try? That’s a great time to seek the help of a coach!

January is typically a time for setting big goals, but it isn’t the only time of year for setting them! The best time to set goals is NOW!

Set targets that are big enough to reach with effort and determination. Goals that are too small aren’t worth pursuing, while setting targets that are too big – that’s overwhelming!

There are many external factors that may hinder your progress towards your goals – factors that are outside of your control. These factors are real, but how you respond to them is critical!

What barriers are keeping you from reaching your goals?