5 Reasons You’re Not Meeting Your Goals (and What To Do About Them)

If you typically have trouble meeting the goals you set for yourself, you're definitely not alone. According to a study conducted by the University of Scranton, a staggering 92 percent of all goal setters are in the same boat you are, and it's not because they're lazy or because they don't want to succeed badly enough. More often than not, a chronic failure to meet goals - especially the big, important, life-changing kind- has a lot more to do with not knowing how to set them in the first place.

I dealt with the same struggle for years and for a lot of the same reasons most people do. Then I finally came to understand what actually sets that other 8 percent apart, and things changed for me, putting an end to many years of frustration and disappointment. The chances are pretty good that you're falling short for some of the same reasons, so ask yourself whether any of the following examples sound familiar.

1. You're Not Being Specific Enough

When you think about something you'd like to accomplish, how does it usually manifest in your head? If you're anything like I used to be, you set goals by vowing to do "more" of this, "less" of that, and to try harder to stick with the program than you did all the other times you failed at the exact same thing in the past. The problem there is that you're being way too vague, which makes it difficult to impossible to create a workable action plan to move forward with.

Change things by being as specific as possible about what you're going to do, as well as exactly how you're going to make it happen. Instead of setting a New Year's resolution to exercise more, make one to jog for two miles every weekday morning starting January 1st. Don't decide you're going to write more in the year to come. Decide you're going to write 1,000 words a day every day right after breakfast starting tomorrow. Now you not only know what you're going to do, but you know exactly how you plan to make it happen.

2. Your Goals Aren't Realistic

When you finally make the decision to change something about your life for the better, you naturally want that shiny, new life you're picturing to manifest as quickly as possible - maybe even overnight. And you probably think that's simply a matter of believing in yourself fervently enough and pushing yourself hard enough, right? Goodness knows the "think positive" society we live in will be happy to back you up in that thinking, but that's just not reality.

The fact of the matter is big, sweeping changes don't happen overnight. You didn't develop the behaviors and habits you want to change in just a week or two, so it's unrealistic to think you're going to undo them in that amount of time either. According to science, the average time it takes a person to break a bad habit or successfully establish a good one is 66 days, so keep that in mind when setting goals for yourself. Yes, you can do just about anything you set your mind to, but it's going to take a while, and that's OK. That's usually the case with anything in life that's actually worth accomplishing.

3. You Only Focus on the Endgame

Imagine you've just made yourself a huge submarine sandwich for lunch, and now it's time to eat it. How do you go about it? Do you try to jam the entire thing into your mouth all at once, or do you take it one bite at a time? Your goals have more in common with that sandwich than you think, and understanding that is critical if you're serious about finally accomplishing them. The bigger and loftier the goal, the more important it becomes that you tackle it one bite, one task, and one step at a time.

So you want to run a marathon, but you're 50 pounds overweight, woefully out of shape, and unsure whether you even own a pair of running shoes. Start your journey by realizing the long-term goal of running the marathon actually consists of multiple short-term goals you'll need to reach first. Sit down, list each of those short-term goals, determine the order in which you'll need to accomplish them, and create an action plan for each. Start by finding those running shoes, proceed one step at a time, stick to the plan, and you will be running that marathon one day.

4. Your Environment Isn't Compatible With Your Goals

Sometimes your planning process isn't the problem when it comes to all those goals you're failing to meet over and over again. Your environment might be the problem or, at the very least, a huge obstacle standing in your way. Consider how your surroundings may be affecting your ability to accomplish the things you set out to do. Do you live someplace where there are lots of opportunities to meet your goals, or are such opportunities rare to non-existent? If it's the latter, think about what you can do or where else you can go to change things.

The people you surround yourself with are equally as important as the place you inhabit, if not more so. Maybe you're surrounded by loving family and supportive friends who are eager to help you succeed, or maybe you're flanked on every side by naysayers who not only don't want you to succeed but aren't success-oriented themselves either. Misery loves company, so you can count on negative people to discourage you or even actively sabotage you at every opportunity. However, surrounding yourself with positive, goal-oriented, supportive people instead is a total game-changer. They'll keep you motivated by cheering you on, but they'll also be a positive influence on you going forward, making it much easier to stay the course.

5. You Let Setbacks Stop Your Progress

In a perfect world, achieving a goal would be as simple as establishing a program and sticking to it. Nothing would go wrong, and not a single mistake would be made at any point. That's just not the world we're living in though. You will make mistakes or have moments of weakness. Unforeseen snags and delays will occur. Things will happen to derail your progress that you probably never could have planned for as well. People who habitually fall short of their goals let those things convince them that maybe success isn't in the cards for them after all. Those who meet their goals recognize setbacks as part of the process and keep going.

Maybe you've been trying to clean up your diet, but you had a temporary lapse of willpower at a friend's birthday party yesterday and devoured half a chocolate cake by yourself. Perhaps you finally got up the nerve to submit your pet manuscript to a publisher, but had a rejection notice waiting for you in the mail today. It's completely normal to feel awful about things like that, but understand that it's just one setback - one bad day in a sea of good, accomplishment-filled days over the course of your entire journey. You can give up, or you can get up tomorrow and get back to business.

Achievement, accomplishment, and lasting positive change are the results of an entire process. That process is a marathon, not a sprint, and approaching it that way is the key to becoming the success story you've always wanted to be.