Are You Struggling To Achieve Your Goals?

 Are You Struggling To Achieve Your Goals?

One of my favourite quotes is by Arthur Ashe: “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome” and this quote came to mind when I watched a “Big Think” video by Dr Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist and associate professor at Harvard Business School. Professor Cuddy is famed for her Ted talk in 2012 about body language which has nearly 40 million views and her latest video relates to why individuals struggle to reach their goals.

Why do people struggle?

Professor Cuddy identifies, through research, that the reason why so many people fail to achieve their goals is because they set themselves too big of a challenge which is outcome focused. The goal is so big and so distant that many give up before they even try. For example, that is why a lot of people fail to ever achieve their New Year’s resolutions. How many times have you heard people say that they will run a marathon or lose “x” number of stone and they never do!

What should you do?

Professor Cuddy’s research indicates that people should focus on small incremental changes that are process focused rather than outcome focused. This approach gives you a step by step focus so you grow in confidence at each step and at the same time you build resilience because you feel safer, calmer and you are not over exposed as you work through each of the smaller steps. She highlights that by taking this approach you can often reach your end goal before you even realise it.

How can I achieve my business goals?

For both personal goals and business goals, the thought process is the same. For your business, of course, you will set longer term goals that seem insurmountable at this present moment but you should create a roadmap of all the smaller steps you need to achieve to reach your overall goal. This way, you will keep focused on the present task at hand but you will keep moving forward to achieve your overall goals!