Many of us
make New Year's resolutions. But before you set new goals for
yourself, you may want to take a moment to look backwards to see
what has stopped you from achieving previous goals. Here are 10
things that may be getting in your way:
1. FEAR: Fear
often scares us out of pursuing goals -- fear of failure, fear
of embarrassment, and in some cases, fear of success (which is
fear of change). Avoid too much psychology and go for what you
want. Failure is never that bad, and success is only better.
2. EVALUATION:
Sometimes we lose focus on the work and stop too soon to evaluate
ourselves. You're always going to find some kind of shortcoming
or flaw with yourself. Fortunately, you don't have to be perfect
in order to be excellent. Just do the work, and let the end result
be your evaluation.
3. COMPARING
YOURSELF TO OTHERS: It's tempting to evaluate yourself based on
what your peers are achieving. You can always find someone more
successful. Your path toward success is unique to you. So keep
your eyes to yourself.
4. TAKING
ON TOO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY: Many people spread themselves thin
and get frustrated that they can't excel at anything. Anyone can
do a million things at once. You're better off with fewer commitments
and more focus.
5. POOR TIME
MANAGEMENT: Time can be your friend or enemy. Set aside sacred,
uninterruptable time devoted to achieving your goal. Learn when
your best hours are (morning, late night, etc.) and set your daily
agenda accordingly.
6. INDECISIVENESS:
The more time you spend trying to decide what to do, the more
time you spend doing nothing. Make a choice, go with it, and don't
look back. Every positive action will lead to a positive result.
You can always make adjustments later.
7. SETTING
UNREALISTIC GOALS: Sometimes we set goals that are so unreasonably
high we set ourselves up for frustration. If that happens one
too many times, we give up altogether. So be realistic. At the
same time, remember that most of us can achieve a bit more than
we think possible. So shoot a little bit higher than what feels
realistic. Talk to positive people in your life to hear their
thoughts. Often people who know and believe in us can better assess
what we can achieve.
8. HANGING
AROUND NEGATIVE PEOPLE: Do your peers encourage you or discourage
you? Does having them in your life focus you or distract you?
Keep yourself surrounded with people who help you move onward
and upward, rather than hold you back.
9. IMPATIENCE:
In an age of overnight millionaires and high speed Internet access,
it's easy to expect immediate results. Don't give up if you aren't
getting the payoff you want as soon as you want it. Anything worthwhile
is worth waiting for.
10. PROCRASTINATION:
The reason why tomorrow is never more convenient than today is
that by the time it arrives, it IS today. If you can do it now,
do it. Don't wait.
For tips on
how to set yourself up for success, check out the Jump
Start Leadership Workbooks or The
7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.
To read more
motivation, check the Chicken
Soup for the Soul series.