What happens if you don’t reach your goals?

Did you start the year focused to achieve a whole list of goals? Made a list of all the things you want to be, have and do by the end of 2019? Maybe you are more of a monthly goal setter. Checking in every week to track your progression? Hopefully, you are looking back a year filled with development, progress, and fun. But what happens if you don’t reach your goals. What does that mean and what do you do about it?

This article is going to start with a confession.

I’ve not hit all the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. Some I’m smashed through quickly, others have been shelved, others are still a work in progress. Some have been for health, others for wealth, and most have been for fun. Some have been closely tracked (like my 100 books in 2019, FYI, I’m currently reading books number 87 and 88) and others have been more fluid and based on a feeling!

So if you are beating yourself up as you haven’t reached all the goals you have set, then you need to read this blog!

Let’s start with why we set goals.

Very simply, they help keep us on track. Excuse the cliché, but imagine you are planning a holiday. You choose a destination, then work out how you will get there. Without a plan, you may miss where you want to go or end up in the wrong place! However, life can throw up some curveballs; you may need to make some tweaks. To the budget, the timing or where you will stay.

Yet when it comes to goals, people can become inflexible. You can stick to an idea or a plan beyond the point of being of useful and then beat yourself up if things don’t go to plan.

So, if you are reflecting on what you haven’t achieved this year, then ask yourself these questions:

Is the goal still relevant?

Just think about what has happened in your life and career over the past 12-months. Are you trying to achieve a goal that isn’t actually important to you or needed anymore? Are you sticking to it out of stubbornness rather than want?

Was it achievable?

Was the goal something that you can or could have accomplished? Was it within your control, or possible within the time that you have yourself? A goal that challenges and stretches you is motivating, but make sure it’s achievable.

What else has been happening?

What you need and want can change dependent on what is happening in your life. Don’t underestimate personal and professional changes and challenges can have on where you’re you spend your time and energy.

What progress have you made?

When you have a big goal, a big change, in mind, it can be very easy to miss the journey steps that you make. Ask yourself if 10 is finished, and 0 is no change, then where are you on that journey. Maybe you have made a lot more progress, and moved a lot closer to the finished article, than you think you have!

What have you learned?

After asking yourself these questions, you made have released that the goal you’ve been holding onto isn’t relevant to you anymore. What you want or need may have changed, but don’t devalue the effort you have made up until now. These experiences will have helped you change; even if it’s just helping you understand what you don’t want or need any longer.

Let’s be clear. Reaching the goals you set yourself can be life changing. They can move you forward in your career, business or life. But sometimes, just sometimes, realising what you don’t need or want to do, have or be can be just as powerful. Make next year the time that you start changing the way you plan what you want out of life. Every time you start planning your goals, ask yourself “Is this what I want out of life, right now?”

If you want somewhere to help you keep on track with your goals, with our Sunday Accountability and Monday Celebration posts, then join the Facebook Group, Creating a Career to Enjoy.

Clara Wilcox is a straight-talking, practical and experienced coach helping clients navigate the tricky waters of returning to work, career changes and professional development. The Balance Collective is a social enterprise focused on improving the lives of parents, by working together to build inner confidence and promote a healthy work/life balance. Isn't it time you had a career to enjoy, not endure? Talk to me NOW about how I can help.