So you’ve set some goals, were really great for a few days and now its been 2 weeks and you haven’t done a thing.

What gives?

If you’re anything like me, you’ve wondered if you’re lazy, if you don’t have what it takes or if you’re undeserving of the life you dream of.

Today, I can say with absolute certainly that its NONE OF THOSE THINGS.

I don’t know you, but I know that you can achieve almost anything with the right mindset and skills.

Now I won’t tell you that achieving your goal will be easy and fast, HOWEVER, the reason you don’t stick with working towards that goal is not too hard to fix and is likely one (or a combination) of these 5 things:

The goal is not right for you

First, do some deep thinking, is this something that you truly want to achieve? Or is it something you think you should want?

Its hard to stay focused on something you don’t really want. Or that doesn’t align with your values and priorities. Doing a fitness competition might seem like fun but if it requires spending so much time in the gym that you hardly get to see your family, who are you number 1 priority, you are bound to struggle.

So is the goal really for you? Is what it takes to achieve it something you are comfortable with?

You don’t look at them everyday

I’ve spent a lot of time watching super successful people to learn as much as I can from them and one of the most common things I hear when it comes to goals is that they look at them every day.

Every.

Day.

By looking at their goals as often as possible they keep them forefront in their mind. Seeing your goals written down reminds you why you set them and serves as motivation to keep working on them.

A lot of people write their goals down in a separate note book, which they then leave in their desk drawer and promptly forget about.

The easiest way to get around this is to have your goals, and goal plan, in your daily planner. It has been proven that writing things out with pen and paper has a greater impact on your mind then typing or simply thinking. Things you write down are FAR more likely to happen. Which makes a paper agenda a SUPER important tool when it comes to your goals, your productivity and how well your life is organized.

Incorporating my goal setting into my day planner was, by far, the most impactful change I made. I went from hardly ever achieving anything to regularly accomplishing more then I ever thought I could. Having your goal setting in your planner is the simplest and easiest way to make your goals a regular part of your life.

Don’t have a planner that allows you to do this? Go here to find out more about the one I use.

Your goal plan is too vague

Its really hard to work on your goals when you don’t know exactly what you are supposed to be doing on any given day.

When you make a plan for your goal, all the steps you need to take to achieve it need to be broken down into small, doable action steps.

For example, if one of your goals is to organize your entire home and your first step is to simply ‘do the upper level’, its going to feel overwhelming. Where do you start? What exactly are you supposed to do.

Keep breaking down each step until you get to tasks that are doable in 60 minutes or less, like organize the linen closet or declutter the kids toys.

You didn’t schedule in your goal tasks

Look at your to-do list for today, does it include goal related tasks?

If not, you need to be scheduling these tasks in like you would an appointment or any other to-do you have to accomplish.

When you open your planner on any given week you should know exactly what you need to be doing that week to make progress on your goals.

The other way to do this is to schedule in time to work on your goals. If scheduling in specific tasks doesn’t work for you, then at the very least, schedule in blocks of time to work on your goals, like 30 minutes every evening after the kids go to bed. Your ability to do it this way will depend on the nature your goal, of course, but if it works for you then go for it.

This step creates accountability because your brains sees the scheduled task as something it has to get done, whether its technically “optional” or not. Little bit of brain trickery.

But it works. Accountability is a super important part of achieving your goals for a lot of people, so make sure when you create your goal plan, you figure out and set up any accountability you are going to use.

You didn’t set a proper time limit

Parkinson’s law states that the time you have to do something, is the time it will take you to do it.

So if you give yourself a year to achieve your goal, it will take you a year to achieve your goal.

Of course, you can’t be unreasonable, but the time limit you set should be just enough to get it done. Delays happen, and you might have to give yourself extra time but don’t do that until you have to. Giving yourself too much time (and knowing it) removes the sense of urgency that says you need to start right away, leaving you to put it off and lose focus and interest.

So which one(s) are tripping you up?

I fell victim to every single of one of them before and still do from time to time. When I find myself struggling with a goal, I sit back for a second and see if I’m guilty of one of these. Personally, it usually is that I haven’t broken the plan down into small enough actionable steps.

It basically comes down to this: Your goals need to be a regular, everyday part of your life, like eating meals or exercising. The easiest way to do this is to make it a habit using a planner that has the proper space for you to set and plan your goals and then schedule them into your day.

(There are not a lot of planners that do this, I know I’ve spent way too much time looking, so if you are struggling to find one that does, check out mine here. It also has space for you to organize the rest of your life, because thats important too!)

A very smart lady by the name of Mel Robbins taught me that procrastination is a form of stress release (mind blown!) so if none of these the things I’ve talked about are causing your struggle, you might consider what your subconscious is trying to tell you. Do you need more time to rest and relax? Or a better activity to release stress? Or is there something about the goal that is giving you anxiety?

Any questions? Comment below!

I hope I’ve helped you identify your problem today and in case you have any doubts,

YOU’VE GOT THIS!

Jennifer

Need some extra help or motivation to achieve your goals? Join my Facebook group Organized for Success where you will find a ton of free tips and tricks to help you get your to-do list done, find time for yourself and reach your goals, as well as an awesome group of ambitious, like minded people just like you there to support you along the way.