10 Reasons You Are Not Achieving Your Goals

Is there anything worse than planning out your goals and then they just never happen? It can be a bit soul-crushing depending on what the goal is. The reality is—a lot of people don’t achieve the goals they set. 

There are many reasons why you struggle to achieve your goals. It’s not simply because you aren’t good enough even though that’s what your brain might tell you! 

Personally, I’ve had many goals fall through. At one point I started a life coaching business and blog. I really wanted it to succeed but no matter what I did, it just didn’t work out. 

Looking back at it now I can definitely pinpoint a few reasons why I failed. In the end, I think it was for the best because it led me in a different direction and well, now we are here on this blog! Big believer in things happening for a reason. 

So, if you have struggled with your goals or you are just wondering WHY you can’t achieve the goals you set, keep reading.

10 reasons you aren’t achieving your goals 

A lot of the time multiple factors go into goal achievement or goal failure. It’s not as simple as changing one small thing in your strategy or just trying a little bit harder. 

When you read through this list try to pick out a couple of reasons (because I’m sure you will notice a few) that you are struggling with your goals. 

Look at the bigger picture and understand that there is a lot at play here. Life circumstances, responsibilities, mindset, etc. are just a few things that could be contributing to your success or failure. 

So without further ado, here are the reasons you might be missing the mark with your goals.

1 – the goal is not clear enough 

Have you ever tried to set a goal like “get in shape” and then no matter how hard you tried it just didn’t work out? 

Having vague goals makes goal achievement impossible because there is no way to measure your success. 

You could very well be making progress but without a way to actually see your steps toward the goal can be discouraging and ultimately lead you to give up.

Make sure your goals are measurable and have a clear END. If your goal is to lose weight, what is your target weight? If your goal is to get organized, what does that really mean? 

2 – you are lacking consistency

Anything you ever work on requires you to be consistent.

If you tend to work hard for a week and then take a break for a month and then start up again for a short time only to take a break again… it’s not going to work.

When I first started blogging I had a super random posting schedule and then after a year, I gave up. 

The problem wasn’t my blog, it was me. I wasn’t consistent at all and expected overnight success. Not going to happen! 

Ask yourself if you are really putting in the work day after day, week after week. If the answer is no, that’s a big reason why your goals are failing. 

3 – fear of failure or fear of success 

I’m sure you’ve heard of this before! Many people don’t even try to achieve their goals because they are scared they will fail. 

You fill your head full of ‘what ifs’ and worst-case scenarios and that stops you in your tracks.

On the other hand, many people are scared of success. What will have to change in your life if this actually happens?

Impostor syndrome takes over and the fear of actually making it kicks in.

4 – you are over planning 

I like to call this analysis paralysis. You are stuck in the planning stage because you feel like you need to have it all figured out before you can even start.

The actual goal failure comes from never doing anything. You can plan your heart out but without action, your goal will never happen. 

This happens to me a lot! My tip to my fellow over-planners is to just do one small thing. 

If your goal is to start a blog, you don’t NEED to know the specifics of how Google Analytics works right now. Just pick a name and buy the domain.

Create a list of other things you want or need to know and then start working down the list. Eventually, you will figure it all out but you NEED to just start. 

5 – lack of accountability

It’s easy to let yourself down if no one else knows about it. You can make up excuses or pretend it didn’t happen. 

However, if you told your whole family about your goal of going back to school to get a better job and then you don’t sign up or don’t attend your classes, you aren’t just letting yourself down. 

Having others know about your goals helps you stay accountable. Even better if you have an accountability partner who will actually check in on your progress.

For some reason, it’s harder to disappoint other people so use that to your advantage!

6 – you get easily discouraged 

This might be a bit harsh but for some of you, your goals aren’t working out because you give up. 

You give up when the going gets tough. You give up when you don’t see immediate progress. 

This comes down to your mindset! If you expect to be an overnight success (like I did with blogging at first) then you are going to be discouraged! 

Practice being more realistic about how long your goal may take and also allow yourself grace because progress is not linear. You may take 5 steps forward and then 3 back. But with consistency and a little hard work, you will keep going forward. 

7 – you struggle with time management

Are you easily distracted? Do you procrastinate? Chances are your goals are suffering because you are just bad with your time. 

Using time management techniques along with being a bit more strict with your priorities can go a long way.

Time management is a skill that can be learned so that’s the good news! 

Related read: How To Make Time For Your Goals

8 – have too many goals on the go

Even if you do have great time management, there are only so many hours in the day. 

If you have 5 major projects on the go while working full-time and taking care of your family you are going to struggle. 

None of us are robots (that I know of 👀) so it’s unreasonable to believe that we can do it all. 

Narrow down your goals to 1 or 2 major ones and then plan accordingly. You can work on the other goals once you’ve achieved the first ones! 

9 – you don’t actually care about the goals

Sometimes people set goals just to set them. Maybe you felt like you needed to because it was the beginning of the year and everyone else was doing it. 

Or you always set a certain health goal so you just set it again without having much heart in it. 

Or maybe these goals are someone else’s goals like your parents or partners… we’ve all been there! 

So ask yourself how much you really want this goal. What is your WHY behind it? If it’s not something that gets you excited or is meaningful in some way then ditch it. 

10 – you only set super long-term goals

I like having a mix of short-term and long-term goals because we need a little boost of confidence along the way.

If your goals are all 5-10 years goals no wonder they aren’t being achieved!! They literally take years to sort out. 

I’m not saying don’t have long-term goals because those are sometimes the most important and meaningful. However, sprinkle in some short-term goals so you can feel accomplished!

A tip: break your super big goals into smaller goals so you can celebrate your progress toward them. For example, if your goal is to buy a house, set smaller saving goals throughout the year.

Related reads:

• 7 Great Ways To Track Your Goals
• 50 Fun Ways To Celebrate Achieving Your Goals
• 5 Easy Steps To Prioritizing Your Goals
• How To Create A Simple Goal Focused Weekly Plan

In conclusion 

There are obviously lots of reasons why your goals aren’t being achieved. It’s not always simple and there could be several things happening at once. 

When my life coaching business and blog failed it was definitely a mix of lack of consistency, fear of failure, and over planning. 

I felt like I needed to know all the ins and outs of business which hello, no one can learn that overnight. I also had random blog posts and literally did no outreach to possible clients… I just wasn’t ready and that’s okay. 

The first step to fixing any problem is realizing there is a problem to begin with. 

It’s not easy to look inward and question ourselves but that’s where the most growth happens and I promise, it will be worth it! 

What reason resonates with you?