The Real Reason You're Not Achieving Your Goals
Episode 865: Show Notes
Many entrepreneurs set ambitious targets but often find themselves falling short. In this episode, we explore the REAL reason why you’re not achieving your goals, unpack the underlying beliefs that might be holding you back, and provide actionable insights to help you break through these barriers.
Join me as I delve into how you might be standing in your own way and offer strategies to move your business forward in alignment with your life goals. I share key mindset shifts to help reduce the pressure and constant stress that many entrepreneurs experience as their businesses scale and the goalposts keep shifting.
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all roadmap for success and self-doubt is often the biggest limitation. Luckily, by cultivating self-compassion, acting like the person you want to become, and focusing on small but consistent actions, you can overcome these hurdles! Tune in for some real-life examples and practical steps to help you transform your business, embrace the journey as an experiment, and start showing up as your best self today!
Listen on your favorite podcast player
Reasons I’m No Longer Setting Goals for My Business
A few years ago, I started using the phrase, “I'm no longer setting goals.” While this isn’t entirely true, I made a conscious decision to spend less time setting make-it-or-break-it numbers for launches and more time thinking about how I’m going to show up and do my best every step of the way. While goals can definitely be a measurable way to motivate yourself and push your business forward, they can also result in unrealistic expectations and disappointment.
As your business scales, the goalposts continue to shift. Your most incredible, exciting achievement becomes your baseline for success. Why are we putting ourselves in a constant state of pressure when we can never get there? The reality is that there is no “there!” Instead of chasing accomplishment, focus on the feeling that accompanies it. How can you give yourself permission to feel joy, pride, excitement, or relief more often? It’s not about infinitely scaling. It’s about scaling to take care of ourselves, build the lives we want, find financial freedom, and much more!
Why There’s No Roadmap for Success
I’d love to tell you that if you follow this action plan and take these steps in this order, you’ll undoubtedly achieve your dreams every single time. Sure, I can provide you with actionable steps to help you grow your business, but if you don’t believe that it’s possible, you will not succeed. There is no roadmap for success!
This might seem like a hard truth to accept, but I guarantee you that self-doubt is your biggest limitation. One of the ways you can overcome this hurdle is by seeing proof. This is why I love working with other successful business owners, coaches, and educators because it allows me to see where I’m headed. Just witnessing what is possible can have a super powerful impact on your belief system. Now, you might be asking, “What if I can’t find an example of what I want to achieve?” Another way to illuminate the path ahead of you is to create your own, unique vision of the life you want. Your version of success and happiness might not look like anyone else’s, and that’s okay!
Breaking Free from the Self-Sabotage Cycle
Once you’ve established your vision and allowed yourself to believe that it’s possible, you can still find yourself stuck in a cycle of self-sabotage. This can show up in a lot of different ways. It can look like procrastinating or making excuses to avoid the opportunities that come your way. It can also manifest as a fear of failure (or even the much-less-talked-about fear of success). A lot of times, these self-sabotaging behaviors correlate with other areas of our lives that we need to address and heal before we can move forward.
My question to you is this: what are you avoiding? When you’re procrastinating on a task or putting something off, you might be making it out to be more important than it actually is. What if you simply showed up as you are right now rather than trying to be who you think everyone expects you to be? Remember, there is no such thing as perfect! By cultivating self-compassion, listening to your inner voice, and embracing and celebrating small changes, you can break free from self-sabotage and create a fulfilled, happy, and successful life on your own terms.
The Power of Acting like You're Already the Person You Want to Be
What if the saying wasn’t “fake it until you make it” but “fake it until you become it?” One of the things that I’ve found empowering in my own journey is acting like I’m already THAT person; you know the one, who seems like they have it all figured out. It’s not about having all the superficial stuff, like a big house filled with designer furniture, for example. What's something you could do in your home today that would give you more joy and peace? It can be as simple as taking a couple of hours on the weekend to clean out your closets. You can enjoy the benefits of a more organized space long before the money comes in!
Similarly, you have to act like you’re already an influencer if you want to become one. Yes, it can be scary to put yourself out there, but it’s hard to tell the difference between someone who acts confidently and someone who actually is confident. If you show up consistently like the fabulous version of yourself that already exists in the new reality you've created for yourself, the difference is indistinguishable. Instead of measuring yourself against goals to determine if you’ve succeeded or failed, why not view life as an experiment where you get to do your best, learn from the rest, and decide how to show up better next time?
How Worrying about Future Potential is Slowing Your Present Momentum
You can make all the changes you like and life will still get in the way. Sometimes, we just can’t achieve our goals because there are circumstances beyond our control that prevent us from doing so. That’s just the way life is. But, a lot of the time, we have complete control over how we show up in the moment. We have the power to set our own beliefs, to take smaller but more consistent actions, and to tell a story about ourselves that is different from our previous limiting or self-sabotaging habits.
You can choose how you move forward in new and exciting ways. You are in the driver’s seat! You get to put your foot on the gas pedal and decide how fast and how far you’ll go. Don’t let your anxieties about your future potential slow down your present momentum.
If this episode resonated with you, you will absolutely benefit from my Market Shift Workshop! Inside, I share what’s working in online business today and how you can create more momentum in your life and business to pursue the business of your dreams. To benefit from this exclusive and highly actionable program, get registered today!
Quote This
I like to look at everything as an experiment. We get to do our best, learn from the rest, and decide how to show up next time.
Highlights
Reasons I’m No Longer Setting Goals for My Business. [0:02:41]
Why There’s No Road Map for Success. [0:09:35]
Breaking Free from the Self-Sabotage Cycle. [0:15:41]
The Power of Acting like You're Already the Person You Want to Be. [0:25:10]
How Worrying about Future Potential is Slowing Your Present Momentum. [0:36:39]
OUR HOST:
Abagail Pumphrey
Boss Project on Instagram | Facebook
Abagail Pumphrey, the Co-Founder & CEO of Boss Project, has been a driving force in the creative entrepreneur industry since 2015. With a passion for empowering service-based business owners around the globe, she became internet-famous after the launch of the transformative training, "Trello for Business." This innovative system revitalized the operations of over 10,000 business owners, making a significant impact on the online business landscape.
Under Abagail's leadership, Boss Project has been featured in prestigious publications such as Forbes, Marie Claire, INC, and HuffPost. Her twice-weekly podcast, The Strategy Hour, is a staple in the business community, continuously topping Business and Management Charts on Apple with millions of listeners from around the world.
Abagail's superpower lies in her ability to break down complex concepts into easy-to-implement, duplicatable systems. As an expert in online sales and a data-driven strategist, she has turned a layoff into a 7-figure work-from-home business. Abagail's mission to help more female founders become financially free, without letting their businesses take over their lives, continues to inspire and guide entrepreneurs on their path to success.
Key Topics:
Goal-setting, Mindset, Momentum, Small Wins, Self-sabotage
