One Reason Why You Can’t Achieve Anything

January 1st comes around and everyone is excited and motivated to achieve their New Year's resolutions.

‘This year I’m finally going to lose weight and get in shape’

‘This year I’m going to quit smoking’.

‘This year I’m starting that business’

These are some of the popular ones but we all know that happens around… two weeks after New Year’s honestly. We go back to our old ways quicker than we can even realize. We fall off.

Many content creators and writers on Medium have spoken about why the majority of people aren’t able to stick to a goal and actually make it happen.

There are thousands of reasons why this happens and I couldn’t write them all in just one article. However, one of the main reasons why people don’t achieve their goals is because they fail to actually plan how they are going to do it.

‘You underestimate what you can do in a month but you overestimate what you can do in a year’

Many of the goals you set for yourself could be achieved simply with the right plan backed by the right actions. It’s going to be very hard but becoming successful isn’t rocket science.

Here are some suggestions to consider:

Structure the year properly.

I already did this in 2023, but in 2024 I truly fell in love with the 12-week year system, a concept provided by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington in their book named after it.

What does it consist of?

It’s the concept or idea that we should focus on achieving goals in a shorter (yet not too long) time frame, which is 12 weeks, 3 months, or 1 quarter of the year. This system and perspective are supposed to help you organize your long-term goals around those time frames.

Thinking about goals in more short-term sprints (12 weeks at a time, that is) forces you to act with urgency and to focus on what matters most, thus avoiding the pitfalls that come with more annualized thinking. (Via Monday Vlog)

It’s going to be easier for you to achieve what you want in a year when you break down what you will focus/work on in 4, 4 quarters.

Also, you can set goals that are specific to each quarter.

For example, I’m planning on starting certain personal projects from April 1st (Quarter 2) mainly in order to prioritize some other goals now and not feel overwhelmed by trying to achieve everything at once in Quarter 1.

I’m writing another article related to this on monk mode and how I structured my quarters, stay tuned!

Learn how to set goals

One of the main things I learned this year is to separate goals from intentions.

A goal is a specific, measurable, and achievable outcome that a person aims to accomplish within a defined timeframe.

An intention, on the other hand, is a purpose or aim that guides actions and decisions. Intentions often shape behavior and mindset, influencing how individuals approach various situations or pursue their goals.

Your goals are supposed to represent the intentions you have.

Example:

• Intention: I want to be more in shape and become a sporty person.
• Goal: I’m going to run 5km, 3 times a week and attend zumba classes once a week.

So make sure your goals are clear, aligned with your intentions and what you want to achieve, and also, realistic enough.

TIP: This year I added a intentions section to my notion I always go back to read whenever I need to remember why I’m doing what I do.

Develop systems

You say you want to start sleeping more and earlier but, how are planning on creating a routine that’s going to help you do that?

I got more into that in this article:

I learned that the key is you develop a system that allows you to do the things you need to succeed regularly, even when you don’t feel like it and even when things get hard.

This system can be a mentality you start to develop, a routine like I mentioned, an organization tool such as Notion to keep everything on track, or even a self-improvement buddy that is going to keep you accountable.

It can also be a combination of those, whatever it is, make sure it helps you take all the actionable steps necessary for you to achieve your goals.

Remember, it’s still not too late! If you have fallen off your goals, remember you can always start again. January 1st is just a day, and every day that you wake up is a new opportunity to change.

Thank you so much for reading till here.