Thread by @Centonomy

1/ What Stopped You From Achieving Your Goals This Year?

We are less than three months away from the new year. Chances are that we will once again start the whole new year resolutions conversation. Are you tired of saying the same thing year in year out?

THREAD...

2/ Aspiring for change and finding yourself in the same spot? You may be feeling that you haven’t moved. Maybe before setting these goals once again we can first evaluate what has stopped us from making progress.

3/ There is really no point of planning out another journey if you know your car won’t start. Resolve the issues with the car, then you have a chance of going somewhere.

4/ So I picked up the phone, had a few conversations and these are some of the things that may be stopping you from achieving the goals you set. Whether its savings, investments, getting out of debt, a new career, business, taking a course etc.

5/ You truly had no incentive to do things differently.
We like talking and perceiving ourselves as people who get out of their comfort zone but we are not. For example, you might have wanted to manage your spending better.

6/ It seemed like a logical plan but, it didn’t resonate hence you didn’t do it. What do you get out of spending money? Do you get some fulfillment, social status, sense of relevance from it?  Are you using spending to simply avoid certain things?

7/ Do you get a sense of security (as false & temporary as it may be) from spending? Identify that then you can see what is blocking you. There is a reason you spend the way you do, or stay in the same job, keep digging yourself in debt, and not make changes in your business.

8/ Once you do this, look at the goals that you are going to set for yourself. Ask yourself if they really connect with you. The cost of your comfort zone is the price of your goals. Many people want to start businesses but could not give up the sense of security.

9/ A stable income comes with those that substituted it for a greater sense of purpose and fulfillment.
Many people did not pursue certain agendas because they are worried about the perception others would have of them.

10/ Whether we realize it or not, what other people think still influences our choices. We still largely believe that if other people don’t buy into it, it can’t be the right thing to do. There are some people around you that you simply have to stop giving a toss about.

11/ Most of the time they don’t know what they are saying because they have never done it themselves. They are usually uncomfortable with the fact that you want to do something that they don’t see themselves doing.

12/ Miriam** who I spoke to, didn’t pursue an investment because her colleagues discouraged her. In many of my articles and classes I have referred to these people as the poverty support group.

13/ As you think about your next year, identify these people and be selective about the conversations you have with them. Maybe some need to be ditched all together.

14/ There is another group of people whose considerations and support might be important to you like Family, mentors, friends. Understand that they may not always agree with what you want to do. It doesn’t mean they love or respect you any less.

15/ If anything, your belief and putting actions behind this belief is what tends to help in bringing them round.
People also blamed lack of time for not pursuing their goals. They however had time to watch TV, be on social media, hang out with friends, work etc.

16/ It is not lack of time.  We all have the same twenty-four hours in a day. It is lack of prioritizing. Deciding that one activity is more important than the other. Even if you claim you work all the time, it is prioritizing what you do at work to be more efficient.

17/ Assess where you have really spent your time this year & start making decisions on what you will do differently next year. In our classes we calculate the time (in hours) spent on TV like activities and it usually ends up being the equivalent of 2 to 3 whole months in a year.

18/ That’s usually more than enough time to work on our goals. So we will not have a different year next year if we don’t come to terms with the mistakes made this year, we can’t come up with new intentions for the new year.

Article by Waceke Nduati