Since it’s still January and many are still in the goal setting mood, I thought I would touch on goals while you still care. For many the goal this year is to set goals. Unfortunately many will not set goals primarily because of fear.
I posted some statistics in November about how many people actually set goals and how well they do as a result. http://buildyoursoulpurpose.com/get-the-facts-on-the-importance-of-soul-purpose So people don’t set goals because of fear, you get that. So what are we afraid of? We tend to primarily lie in one of two fear categories. They are the fears of success and failure.
When we are afraid to fail it’s mainly that we don’t think we can handle rejection in our life. We don’t want to get our hopes up for something only to see it go up in flames. For most, playing small is the way to go never stand out and never have to worry about criticism. That thought crossed my mind with regards to starting this blog. One of my initial thoughts was, what if everyone hates it?! The reality is, that if people hate it, it’s not necessarily a bad thing because then I learn what specifically they hate and I can refine my approach based on the feedback. You have to let your ego go in this case and truly want feedback. It can’t be like if your wife asks you if you like her shirt and then after you tell her you don’t, she doesn’t speak to you for the rest of the day. (Wife disclaimer: The previous scenario regarding the shirt is fictitious and in no way represents actual people or events in my life.)
Fear of success is much more of an odd concept to some until you start thinking about the people in your life who sabotage their own success to keep it from getting too good. Why do we do this? Success is a lot scarier than failure. Success means we really have some skin in the game and we start putting ourselves out there. Look at the most successful and famous people in the world. For the most part, people like Mother Theresa aside, successful people get criticized a ton. The more success you have the bigger the potential problems in your life. You are playing from an increased plane of both possibility and failure.
I am not saying that this is the only reason we are not setting goals but it’s a big part of why we are not. Take a look at what you are doing today. Then ask yourself if you are maximizing your talents to the fullest. If the answer is no, goal setting is probably a big reason. Even if you end up setting the wrong goals you have put yourself that much closer to the right ones. Don’t just hope to set goals, set concrete goals and don’t be afraid to ask for help along the way. Here’s wishing you a prosperous year.
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