Achieve Your Goals

We don’t talk about New Year’s Resolution’s in Spring. Typically, at this point in the year we would much rather talk about baseball or our upcoming Summer Vacation plans then the goals we established for ourselves in January.  But now is the perfect time to reengage and even rethink our goals and why we may not have achieved them.

Which brings up some good questions relating to our goals.  What stops us from achieving our inner most desires? The desires we really wish we had or could do. It’s Fear.  It could be the fear of not being good enough, loss of identity, the unknown, maintaining the success you create, increased responsibilities, or even the fear of actually achieving your goal.  Sound familiar? We tell ourselves to eat more vegetables, exercise, manage our stress, and get more sleep, but then why don’t we do it? The thing that holds us back from making changes in our lives at the most foundational level is fear and our perception of it.

So where does this fear come from and why is it so debilitating when it comes to us achieving our goals?  The answer is in our brain.  There are two major parts to our brain when it comes to this subject. There is the side that lives on automatic also known as the subconscious brain (reptilian) or more specifically your basil ganglia.  This is the part of the brain that drives our habits. We don’t have to think about these aspects of our lives we just do them.  Think of any behavior pattern as it relates to thinking (doubt, worry, fear) or actions (drinking, micromanaging, procrastination) and positive or negative this is the part of the brain responsible for it.

Then there is the other side of the brain called the conscious brain or the pre-frontal cortex. This is the part of the brain that we are in charge of.  We use this part of our brain when we are fully aware, present, and not in a reactive state of mind.  This part of the brain really lights up when we need awareness and concentration and this is going to be when we engage in new tasks, something difficult or uncertain.

So let’s begin to apply this information to real life scenarios and our goals. Our brain’s job is to keep us alive, which is the subconscious portion of our mind. Any time we do something new or that takes us out of our comfort zone our brain lights up and says, “Hey, wait a minute! Are you sure you want to do this? We haven’t done this before.” This could be the moment you decide to exercise, begin to eat healthier, speak in public, tell the truth, have a hard conversation with a friend, quit the job, end the relationship, start the business… You name it and it counts.  This part of the brain is great if we are thinking about getting a tattoo, making a big purchase, or gambling, but unfortunately the brain doesn’t know the difference. It just recognizes that this is new and it isn’t quite sure what to do about it.

The very moment you want to change, break a habit, or do something hard or scary and you hesitate, your brain goes to work to stop you.  There are fancy names for this that researchers use:  cognitive biases, paradox of choice, the psychological immune system, the spotlight effect etc, but in order to grow you have to take on new challenges. 

So now that we recognize why it can be so hard to achieve our goals we need strategies to help us get us out of this vicious cycle.  The first is recognizing that the emotions you feel during moments of change are going to come. Which means there will always be fear. We can’t control the emotions we feel or the triggers that bring them, but we always have control over our actions.  One of the best strategies is reevaluating your goals to make them actually achievable. Success breeds success and the same is true no matter how small the goal or the topic. So set yourself up for success with smaller goals and your brain will start to follow. 

The second strategy is called “Just Do It.” The Nike Franchise has coined this strategy the best and it is a mindset that drives action. Individuals that adopt this strategy don’t take the time to analyze or even let their thoughts get the best of them- they literally just do the action.  The more times you perform the action, the less hesitation, the less grumbling about doing something you don’t want to do, and the more a new habit is created.

Control in life and the ability to believe you have it are major aspects to achieving the goals we set for ourselves.  Your inner wisdom is far more powerful than you might realize, don’t let fear get the best of you achieving your best self.