Hi! Coach Jimmy here, and today I want to talk to you about what happens when you set goals and you don’t hit them. For a lot of us, setting goals in the first place is really outside of our comfort zone; like literally taking a piece of paper or a white board and saying, “I want to achieve ________by _______ date.”
I know when I started both my fitness journey and in my business, that was something that was really out of my comfort zone because I literally remember coming out of my mouth in high school when somebody asked me my goals were going into college and stuff like that. I literally remember saying, “Yea I really don’t set many goals because you know I don’t want to get to that date and not hit them and be disappointed.” I thought that was a really good philosophy because I was protecting myself.
“I literally remember saying, Yea I really don’t set many goals because you know I don’t want to get to that date and not hit them and be disappointed. I thought that was a really good philosophy because I was protecting myself.” – The Coach Jimmy
You may be the same way, you don’t set goals; you don’t start things because you are so scared of failing that you would rather just not try at all. You are robbing yourself of so many amazing opportunities when you actually set that goal and how you stretch. But let’s say you did it, let’s say you set the goal and you busted your tail and you’re like, “Man I’m gonna get there!” and you don’t reach it. I’m dealing with that today. I set a really big goal for myself and my business and today was the deadline, and I didn’t hit it. I woke up this morning I was frustrated, I was disappointed and that’s ok; you can be disappointed.
Failing to Hit a Goal Doesn’t Make You a Failure
Does that mean I’m a failure? Does it mean you’re failure if you don’t hit it? I’m here to tell you, “NO” because I woke up this morning and I didn’t hit the goal that I wanted to hit but my business is further along than it would’ve been if I had not set the goal. So let’s say you’re here and your goals are way up here and you set this goal and you set a deadline – you’ve gotta set a deadline because a goal without a deadline is just a wish; your kinda just hoping right? You’ve gotta set a date. So the dates here, here’s the goal and at that time I end up just getting to here. Now you’ve got two choices here: you can be really disappointed and feel bad and beat yourself up or you can say, “Holy cow! I went from here to here! Granted I didn’t make it to the goal up here, but I’m so much further along.”
“…you’ve gotta set a deadline because a goal without a deadline is just a wish” – Coach Jimmy
Don’t Blame Others
In my case the goal was a group effort, it wasn’t all just on me. It required me too train some other people how to do things, to enable them and give them tools in the hopes that they would put those into action. So in the past also what I have done – it’s been really easy to blame others that I didn’t hit my goals right? If this guy would have done this or if this guy would have done that then this would have happened – I would’ve hit my goal. In a way that’s true, but on the flip side I have to look at the man in the mirror and go, “What else could I have done?” Maybe it’s not equipping those individuals with more tools; maybe it was finding more individuals. If I’m only relying on one or two people to hit a big goal. Maybe where I went back, you know what? I could have taught six more people those same skills and if I had more people that I was teaching these skills too odds were that two or three of those would activate faster than maybe some of the other people would.
Take Responsibility
So again, at the end of the day it’s my responsibility; it gives me the opportunity to first say, “Wow! I am further along than I would’ve been had I not set the big scary goal” and celebrate that. Then really look back and say, “What part of this that I could control that I could have done better on?” Then immediately set the next goal. I know so many that don’t hit their goal and they cower or they go back and they feel guilty or they’ll take all this time to like have these pity parties. Your life is too short for that! Do you realize it takes the exact same amount of effort and energy and time to feel guilty – to feel sorry for yourself, or feel pity? Then it is to set the next goal and start moving in that direction and go, “Oh I learned these two lessons, let me go put that into effect immediately.”
“Wow! I am further along than I would’ve been had I not set the big scary goal” – The Coach Jimmy
Keep Setting Goals
So, keep setting goals – you’ve gotta write them down, mine are here on the wall next to me; they stare at me every day! A little bit of an uncomfortable feeling is what’s gonna move you – it’s a good thing; it’s not a bad thing. And then go after them, like with all of your might and then if you don’t hit, look and see how much progress you’ve made and celebrate that! Set the next goal and get moving again. Not hitting the goal is not the end of the world and it’s so much better than not starting because you’re afraid of failure. Look, I “technically” failed, but I’m further along in my business then I would have been had I not been willing to “fail” and you could do the same thing. Set a great goal and get moving and do me a favor, put below what your goal is and give me a date that way I can help keep you accountable and encourage you along the way as well.
This is Coach Jimmy, thanks for checking in! We’ll talk soon!