We started on mindset.
We balanced our goals.
Now, we dive into why you will still fail.
I want you to find the nearest mirror. Take a long, hard look at your reflection. You – yes you – are why you will fail to achieve all of your goals.
Let me explain. This isn’t a negative outlook on life; this is a reality gut check. You are your own worst enemy, and unless you learn to get out of your own damn way, you will still be spinning on the COVID-19 carousel in 2022. There are many excuses and obstacles that we are all guilty of using that stop us from achieving our goals. The problem with most of these excuses is they are real. There really are little people that live in our houses who depend on us to survive. There are bosses who are pains, and coworkers who are not fair in seeing the efforts and late nights you put in. There are spouses who do not understand your need for your hobbies. You have zero free time? Agreed! But as a reminder, Beyonce and you share the same 24 hours in a day.
You’ve probably heard this term before: self-sabotage. Self-sabotage is defined by Miriam Webster as:
“the act of destroying or damaging one’s self deliberately so that it does not work correctly” or an “act or process tending to hamper or hurt.”
Failure #1. You will quit before you start. You will procrastinate. How many diets have you started on a Monday? Then the next Monday after that? There’s this idea that at some point, it will be the right time to start that thing. That thing in your heart that you will put off until work is less crazy, or when the kids are in school, or when they are out of school, or when the next year starts, or when you get the right degree. Newsflash! The time is rarely ever right. You will never feel completely ready. The most important thing is that you just START. How will you ever achieve it if you can’t make the first step? We are all guilty of not feeling qualified but, my friend, you woke up today. You have another chance to start right now. What are you waiting on?
Failure #2. You do not prepare and commit to a plan. Have you ever set a goal to do something significant, only to fail and say, “See, I knew this wouldn’t work.” I think we all have. It is easy to subconsciously keep reliving our usual cycle of confirmation bias. We confirm; we are not ready, not good enough, not worthy. Are you actually putting a plan in place to achieve your goal or are you just making a wish? There’s a difference. If it’s a real goal, you must first start and then make a plan with guideposts to get you there.
Failure #3. You have no goals. You tell yourself you don’t need to set a new goal or change; things are just fine the way they are. Basically, you quit on your dreams before you even decided to call your shot. Is that working for you? You stop yourself from going to the next level because you do not even believe that you are worthy of this. So, you don’t set a new goal because that would require you to be uncomfortable. If you don’t show up at all, you are absolutely going to fail. I get it. I have been there. But hear me when I say this – you absolutely should be grateful for where you are today and all that you have. The idea of growth and creating the habit to continuously stretch yourself is so you can be prepared for the hard times that will inevitably come. The push for goals isn’t about the actual goal. It’s the strength you are building to become the best version of yourself. Lou Holtz once said, “In this world, you’re either growing or you’re dying. So get in motion and grow.” No truer words have ever been spoken, in my opinion.
Here’s where I want to leave you with. One day, your offspring will come to you with pure excitement. He will say, “Momma, I know what I want to be when I grow up!” You will beam with pride because he is smart in math, and he will be an excellent financial planner one day. You start picturing his wonderful life as a successful world speaker and planner. Then, he will look at you with those big blue eyes and say, “I want to be a magician.” Poof, your dream goes up in smoke, nah… flames. But what will you say? Will you say, “I had a dream once too, kid… but then you were born.” Or will you say, “Go for it, just like I did?”
