Why People Give Up on Their Goals

Have you ever wondered, why people give in to their bad habits? Why do people wanting to change their lives don’t succeed?

• We know binge-watching Netflix shows is a waste of time, yet people do it.
• We know living a sedentary lifestyle and eating processed foods isn’t good for us, yet people fall for such unhealthy habits all the time.
• We know playing video games for hours on end is bad for our mental health, yet we don’t mind a short-term dopamine boost.

So, what gives? Why do people fall so much into their temptations? Why do people knowingly squander away hours of their lives when they could’ve invested that time into maximizing their full potential?

The number one excuse most people make for engaging in their unhealthy habits is that it makes them feel good. So, unconsciously, they’re led to believe that the more they indulge in their desires, the better their lives will be.

They live under the illusion that self-indulging in activities that make them happy in the short term can make their lives better in the long term. Couldn’t they be more wrong?

I’m sorry to say, but this mindset is a pathological self-defeating cycle. And unfortunately, most people wouldn’t know they’ve wasted their time until they no longer have it.

When time slips out of our hands, we don’t usually notice it… well, because we’re too busy enjoying ourselves. We’re too busy being vested in activities that don’t serve us any purpose but only drain our energy.

When we waste our time, we are no longer productive. And when our productivity goes down the hill, we lose motivation, and most importantly, we lose track of our goals. The goals we had set out for ourselves vanished through the vault. It’s like they weren’t even there in the first place.

When this happens, you no longer have the discipline or motivation to put yourself back on track — all because you’ve succumbed to the bad habits in the first place.

And this is when the blame sets in and hits you like a rock, and guilt fillings rush over you. And at that point, you realize how you wish to bring back the lost time… and win over your life.

The good news is, wherever you are in your life journey, it’s never too late to change the course. It’s never too late to say “no” to habits that crush you and lead you nowhere.

And it all starts with your willpower.

And the thing is, your willpower has to be strong enough to overcome those feelings of guilt, dread, and failure you’ve let into your life in the first place.

The good news is that everyone has willpower. The bad news is that not everyone is willing to train it.

Strengthening your willpower isn’t hard to do. You just have to pay attention to a few elements.

For your willpower to work for you, you need to crave change. This means that change won’t happen unless you want it with all your heart. How much you’re willing to change your life is directly proportional to your desire to change it. The more you hate your current life, the more you will be inclined to take the necessary steps toward a meaningful change.

Be willing to get out of your comfort zone

One of the reasons most people fail to change is because they’re too comfortable being where they are.

Too many people prefer to stay within their comfort levels. And that’s why it’s so hard for them to change.

The uncomfortable truth many people face when wanting to change is thinking no sacrifices are needed on their part. But change doesn’t happen with wishful thinking — it happens with a concerted effort.

To see change, you need to be willing to step out of your comfort zone.

This means if you want to change, you need to break through the comfort shield and experience the uncomfortable. This is the key.

Comfort will lead you nowhere.

Start small and build up to it

When trying to change themselves, many people attempt to change their habits overnight.

They tell themselves: “Today is the day I’m a new person. I’m going to lose weight, I’ll quit smoking, or I’ll stop binge-watching Netflix.”

Sorry to break it to you, but this mindset does NOT work. And people with such a mindset are doomed to fail most of the time.

And the reason?

Unless you’ve primed your brain the right way — that is slowly and methodically — you can’t expect a good habit to replace a bad one. Your old habits are way too strong to give way to any new habits.

When a particular habit is deeply ingrained, the neuronal pathways within your brain are firmly set, and it takes time to rewire the brain.

That’s why it’s so hard to get rid of old, bad habits.

It’s like being overweight all your life and trying to shed all your extra weight in one month. In case you didn’t know, it doesn’t work like that. Some people still think it’s possible, but most of the time it’s not.

That’s why the key to any change is to start small. There is one catch, though — you need to be consistent.

Starting small is a no-fail approach to creating a long-lasting change. Not only will you make progress, but you’ll also ensure you stay on the course.

As James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits puts it: “small changes are incremental and can lead to remarkable results.”

By making a small change today, you can set the stage for bigger and better changes coming in the future.

You just need to start somewhere.