How To Achieve Your Goals in 2021

How To Achieve Your Goals in 2021

By Mark Wager

Every year millions of people around the world see the New Year as an opportunity to make positive changes to their lives. Whether it’s a desire to get a promotion, start a new business or even something more personal like losing weight, there are people who desperately want to achieve success in 2021. However, these resolutions are in reality, empty promises. On average only 8% of people will actually get to the end of the year with their resolution completed and the vast majority of around 80% quitting by the end of February. So what is the difference between success and failure? What are the remaining 8% doing differently that helps them achieve their goals? In this week’s article, I want to explore how you can achieve your goals in 2021.

Define success 

The number one reason why people fail to achieve their goals, whether they are professional or personal, is that they don’t have a clear definition of what it is they want to achieve. Often I have people approach me for advice. They  have goals such as wanting a promotion, a pay rise, a better job  and in each circumstance I ask the same question “what does that look like?” The answer tells me with a high level of accuracy how likely it is that the person will succeed. In my experience the people who have a very clear definition of what success would look like are more likely to reach that goal. Let me explain why.

Your mind controls your performance. In the words of Henry Ford “whether you think you can do something or whether you think you can’t you’re right.” Your mind will only motivate you to achieve something that it believes is possible. So it’s important that  you provide yourself clarity. Just like any trip is made easier when you know the specific address of where you want to go the same is true with your mind. Imagine what your life will look like when you have achieved your goal. If it’s a new job, then what job, if you want to start a new business then what kind of business. Define success and success will define you.

Talk in absolutes

Here’s another mistake that nearly everyone makes. They have their goal written down which is good but it’s often phrased like “I want to be head of sales by the end of the year.” Now at a first look there seems nothing wrong with this but ask yourself how powerful is this statement? Now imagine if you phrased your goal as an absolute. By this I mean talk to yourself as if it’s a certainty that it will happen so it make look like “On 20th December I will be Head of Sales.” This subtle change in wording will make a big difference to your confidence levels. 

The more confident you are the more likely it is that you are going to achieve your goals we all know this so why would you tell yourself that you may fail. Instead, write down your goals as if it’s a statement of fact that you will succeed. Tell yourself, on what date you will succeed and even include the reason why you will be successful. It may not seem true at the time of writing it but by reminding yourself everyday that you will succeed will greatly increase your chances. Here are some examples of how your goal will look “On 1st December I will be the top sales person within my company because I am hard working and dedicated” or if more personal “On December 1st I will weigh 100kgs because I eat healthy and exercise regularly” You don’t need to doubt yourself because there are many people who are more than willing to do that for you. Have confidence in yourself.

Dream big

The sculptor Michelangelo once said that “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark.” People often set goals that are low because they feel they are realistic and this increases their chances of success but this is false logic. If you are going to set a goal then set a high one. If you are going to dream then you might as well dream big. Imagine  this scenario. Two people are in-front of you. They  both have the same type of goal but one is aiming much higher than the other. Which one is likely to be more motivated, which one is likely to push themselves further? Is it the one who’s dreaming small or the one who is dreaming big? 

I remember many years ago, I was a Manager with a team that was always performing lower than the other teams within the same organisation yet within a few months I took them from the bottom of the league table to the top and they stayed there. A fellow Manager asked me what was the secret of the turnaround. I told him that his team like the other teams had a target of 80% yet my team set themselves a target of 90%. When this happened, my team was always going to perform better because they were aiming higher even if they didn’t always achieve 90%. They still performed much better than anyone else. Write down your goal and if it doesn’t scare you then you are not aiming high enough. 

Build a winning team 

Success is never an individual pursuit. If  you want to achieve your goals then you will need help and support from other people. This may take the form of working with a performance coach like myself or finding yourself a mentor or it may be as simple as surrounding yourself with the right kind of people. The American entrepreneur Jim Rohn once said “you are the average of the people who you spend most time with.” The easiest way to develop winning habits and a confident positive attitude is to spend time with people who already have those habits. Winners  attract winners. 

Here’s the harsh truth. There is a reason why you are not currently living your goal and the most likely reason is that you are not good enough. It’s  not a nice thing to hear but it’s the truth. As  long as you add the word “yet” you are not achieving your goal because you are not good enough yet. You need to improve, become better you need to become more confident learn new skills. The good news is that the knowledge you need to do this already exists. You just need to find it. The history books are filled with people who have achieved success way beyond what others imagined possible. Those  people left behind clues, each one explaining how they achieved what they did. These  clues may come in the form of an interview, a video, a book, or a newspaper article. The journey you are about to travel this year is not one which you have to take alone. Surround yourself with winners like yourself and even if you never meet these people and you just listen to their podcasts, watch their videos, read their books they can still be part of your winning team.