Daniella stared at the list in her hand, the very one she had written earlier that week. It contained all the tasks she was supposed to get done by the end of the week – an attempt at being productive. It was Saturday already and Daniella remembered she had only abided by the list for the first couple of days, she ignored it on Wednesday and by the time Friday rolled around, she had forgotten all about the list.

The frustrating thing was, that this wasn’t the first time Daniella would go through something like this. It was a route she was all too familiar with; a cycle she had been trying to break but all to no avail – set goals but never follow through with them. Does this sound familiar?

If you can relate to Daniella’s dilemma, then this piece is for you. It can be frustrating; to start things and never finish them, finding it hard to stay consistent in finishing set goals. Just like Daniella, you may be wondering why this is. The following are reasons for this occurrence and they also double as solutions to the dilemma:

1. Lack of a clear “why”: It is not just about setting goals, there should be a clear-cut reason for why that goal is being set. “Clear-cut” means a reason that is void of vagueness and ambiguity. One that is strong enough to push through the fog of inconsistencies. The benefits and objectives of that goal should be clear as day.  For example, someone who set a goal to lose 20 pounds, because they want to look good for an upcoming event or fit into a dress, might struggle to stay consistent with this goal once the initial excitement wears off. Tying the goal to a larger purpose of say, wanting to prevent chronic health issues is more likely to make the person stay on the right track of their goals. “Finding your why is your staying power to achieving any goal”
2. A forgotten “why”: Of course, you have not “forgotten” the very reason you’ve been working out for the past week. It’s most likely there, somewhere at the back of your mind. Having your reasons in clear view, at all times, can also improve your staying power when it comes to setting goals and achieving them. “How do I have them in clear view at all times?”, you may ask. Documenting them digitally is a good place to start: set them as wallpapers or pin them to your home screen. Visual reminders like colourful sticky notes or vision boards around your reading space also help to ensure that your goals are in clear view at all times.
3. Desire: Even if you stop along the way, the trick is to not give up after you realize this, no matter how long it was you have stopped. As long as the desire is still there, go back and pick it up again! Even though Daniella failed at following her list that week, she could try again and again in weeks to come. 
4. Setting unrealistic goals: Another reason we find it hard to stay consistent with goals could be because we are setting highly unrealistic or hard-to-sustain goals. For example, aiming to work out for 2 hours every day can be unachievable for a newbie fitness member; considering this isn’t something they are accustomed to. Instead, planning to work out for 30 minutes, 4 or 5 days a week sounds much more achievable for them. In essence, to achieve our goals, we could use the SMART goal method where S stands for Specific, M for Measurable, A for Achievable, R for Realistic and T for Time-bound. This is a well-established framework for setting clear, achievable and trackable goals.

To learn more about how to adopt the SMART goal methodology, contact us at Surgir Consulting Services via surgirconsultingservices@gmail.com