Why do people give up on goals?

Why do people give up on goals?

Goal setting, especially the proper tools to structure, is crucial for long-term achievement. The usual problem, however, is not setting goals but completing them.

While a vision involves creativity and foresight, goals require strategy and dedication.

An extensive study on goal setting by Marshall Goldsmith and Laurence Lyons helps us understand an essential component: Why people give up on goals. Six of the most important reasons people give up on goals;

• Ownership. Someone must “buy in” to their goals and take ownership. This shifts the ownership and initiative to an internal point of reference. Then effectiveness and mastery can result.

• Time. Goal setters tend to underestimate the time it will take to complete the task (an “optimism bias”), leading to giving up.

• Difficulty. The optimism bias equally applies to difficulty as well as time.

• Distractions. People tend to underestimate the distractions and competing goals.

• Rewards. Disappointment sets in when achievement of a goal doesn’t
translate into other goals or to the desired happiness.

• Maintenance. Maintaining changed behavior is difficult, and there is always the pull of the old and the fear of the new.