Read time: 3 minutes

Whether it’s my journey to becoming a professional athlete or growing my business now, I’m setting goals to get to where I want to be. And I’m sure you are too.

But sticking to them is the real goal.

So this is going to address 7 mistake you’re making (or have made) that are killing your chances of achieving your goals – and believe me, I’ve done all of them.

A goal without a plan is only a wish

Chances are the if you continue down the road of making the following mistakes, you’ll be fine, you’ll survive.

But if you don’t achieve your goals, you’ll always be wondering. “What if…” or “If only I…”, and we don’t want that.

The road towards our goals will be littered with distractions, failures and mistakes.

To give you a jump start, here are 7 common mistakes when trying to achieve your goals, and how to fix them.

Let’s dive in.

#1. You aren’t prioritising.

Our goals shift during the week, month and year.

But no doubt there is something that is of a larger priority to you.

Perhaps its a smaller goal towards a more longer term goal.

Let’s say weight loss is your goal.

And one of your smaller goals if to work out each day.

While work, school or lie could easily get in the way.

It’s important to prioritise that workout.

I do not go to bed without having done my daily workout.

Plan your entire day around the time that workout will be placed into your day.

#2. You try do too much too quick

You can often get caught into trying to achieve far too much too quickly.

Set out goals that should be in 1, 3, 6 month and one year.

Chances are you can move some of your 1 month goals to 3 months, 3 to 6 month and 6 month to 1 year.

Achieve one thing, feel good, then move to the next one.

Small steps, big achievements.

#3. You seek instant results

It would be great if we saw results tomorrow.

But reality is far from it.

Instant gratification is killing peoples dreams before they’ve even started.

To get over the idea of this. Look to enjoy the process and the journey that you’re going to go on.

Be excited by the journey of achieving your dreams.

And celebrate the progress along the way.

#4. You’re too focused on the outcome

Most goals are motivated by some form of outcome that is an extrinsic motivation.

Similar to the previous mistake, and at the risk of repeating myself, the process, your intrinsic motivations is worth focusing on.

Because usually these will move us into action sooner.

Rather than focusing on the result or how far the goal is away, or how someone else has achieved, or how it the outcome hasn’t happened yet.

As well as this, the result isn’t guarateed in life. Life is unexpected and sometimes out fo our control.

So by directing towards these internal focuses and the person you are becoming. You can control that. 100%.

#5. You’re finding excuses

“I’ll start monday”, “I was unable to because….” etc, etc.

Whatever you end up saying. Becoming aware of when you are using an excuse is the first part to not using an excuse.

You can easily get caught up in thinking that you’re doing great but in reality, you’re constantly creating barriers for success and fulfillment.

On top of that, when we’ve use an excuse, it takes a small hammer to our self worth. Which over time, adds up, hurting us more and more.

When we overcome our excuses, we take control of our goals and feel good about the person that we are for doing it.

#6. You’re not willing to do it one your own

While having people there to support you, is great.

A truly sustainable goal is one that you can do on your own.

If you’re training for a marathon but your running partner gets sick or injured. Do you stop because of it?

You should be prepared to go it alone in moments.

Which leads to the next mistake, your systems.

#7. You don’t have good systems in place

In my business, I’ve recently implemented systems for writing and creating content.

And wow. It’s changed everything.

I infact made the mistake of not doing what I was doing other areas of my life. Creating systems.

I have it all worked out for my physical training, but not my work. And the difference is huge in how less pressure I feel.

James Clear in Atomic Habits, brilliantly writes “You don’t rise to your goals, your fall to your systems.

Look out for these mistakes. Don’t beat yourself up if you’ve done them. Take action.

That’s for now. I hope it helps.

I would love to hear what you would add over on Twitter, Linkedin or Instagram.

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