Rich-Habits-REPORT-Goal-Setting – Tom-Corley

Far too many individuals never achieve their goals. Many who fail to reach their goals simply give
up on goal setting altogether. They act out of frustration or a loss of confidence in the goal-setting
process. Why? Why do people fail to achieve their goals? At the heart of the problem is the fact
that many who set what they think are goals are not setting goals at all. They are, instead, making a
wish. Wishes are not goals. What sets a wish and a goal apart is action. Wishes are wishes because
there is no action-based plan underpinning the wish. Goals become goals only when action steps
are required to achieve the goal. For example, a typical goal setter may establish a goal of making a
certain amount of income for the year. They may even list this income dollar amount as a “goal.” As
the year moves along they soon begin to realize that they will not get close to reaching the income
goal. This usually occurs mid-year. At that point they often give up on the goal out of frustration.
Feelings of inadequacy, failure, poor work ethic, lack of focus begin to filter into their minds as a
result of missing the goal. That’s too bad. It’s sad because the failure in achieving the goal has little
to do with work ethic or focus or competence. Instead, it has everything to do with misinterpreting
a wish for a goal.