Sitting at the table you drop your pen, crumple up a piece of paper, and toss it for a 3-point shot into the wastepaper basket. You were attempting to write down a goal that you would like to achieve in the next 6 months. Your inner critic piped up saying, “You have attempted this goal before. What makes you think you can achieve it this time?”

It’s true. You may have attempted the goal 2-3 times and not succeeded. It doesn’t mean you should give up.

Achieving your goals can be overwhelming when you have competing demands that require your attention. You may feel you are in a mental tug-of-war with other goals that are equally as important to you. Having a split focus does not help you achieve either one or you may abandon them altogether.

It is time to dig deeper into the “why” of your struggle.

You are casting your net too wide. Your goals are too broad and there is no way to measure them. You may even have several goals tangled up in one. You need to tease them out to pick one specific goal – choose the one goal that if you achieve it will help achieve some of the smaller goals. Use the S.M.A.R.T. goal method where goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.

You lack the willpower to make necessary changes. The goals you set are things you have not yet achieved or conquered. To achieve your goals, you will have to potentially do things that you have never done before. You will have to make a change to your regular routine or discipline yourself. Change makes people uncomfortable. Change is growth; it is progress. You will have to ask yourself the ultimate question – Am I willing to make the changes necessary to achieve my goals?

You are not setting the “REAL” goal. You may not be setting goals that stretch you and promote the growth of your knowledge, skills, or experiences. You are playing it safe. Fear has crept in and you have decided to play small. Set a goal that is meaningful to you and that you are emotionally connected to. This goal will help you stay motivated and drive you toward achieving it when challenges or obstacles arise. You may have heard of this type of goal being called the “BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal”. Go for it!

You lack belief in yourself. You cannot visualize seeing yourself achieve your goals. You find ways to self-sabotage your progress by missing deadlines, avoiding putting in the effort, or failing to contribute to a conversation. Sabotage usually surfaces when you do not believe you are “enough”, “worthy”, or “deserving”. Take time to understand where those beliefs came from – chances are they are a narrative from the past and that is not who you are today. Stop comparing yourself to your yesterday.

You do not ink the goals you think about. You have many thoughts in a day. 50, 000 – 70, 000 to be exact. These thoughts can be fleeting and unless you capture your goals on paper they can disappear into thin air. Inking out your goals makes your goals tangible and gives them substance in which you can build your plan of action and timelines.

Your goals do not have to be only things you long for. You can end the struggle by developing clarity of your most important goal. You can commit to the change or changes required to achieve your goal. You can go for the real goal that makes you anticipate life’s upcoming events. You can believe you are enough, worthy, and deserving of your desired outcomes. Why? Because your goals mean something to you and that is all that matters. You can start inking your goals and reviewing them a few times a day to keep them top of mind.

Wouldn’t it feel great to stand in a victory pose and say, “I did it!”