Goals & The 5 Reasons Average People Don’t Set Goals

A person without goals is like a boat without a rudder. A person with goals is like a boat with a rudder, a captain, a compass and a map. Which boat would you rather be in? Most people would say the second one yet the average person lives there life in the first boat just drifting through life.

"A person with goals is like a boat with a rudder, a captain, a compass and a map."

Most people go through their life without setting goals. They may set goals in sports, school or even their hobbies like working out. They want to make 3 touchdowns in the next football game. They want to be a 4.0 student. They want to get down to a certain weight for a fitness competition. If you were to ask the average person what their goal for life is though they would not be able to answer you but they would be able to tell you what they are wearing to the party on Friday. Most people spend more time trying to take the perfect selfie and filtering it then they do for planning out their life. Don’t believe me grab someone’s phone and look at how many selfies they have and then ask them what are their goals for this year. People always talk about how important goals are yet only 3% of the population have written goals and only 1% review them daily. The average person is not in either of those percentages. The famous oil billionaire H.L. Hunt when asked his formula for success. He said that in America, you only needed two things to be successful: “First,” he said, “decide exactly what it is you want. Most people never do that. Second, determine the price you’re willing to pay to get it, and then resolve to pay that price.” Have you decided what exactly it is that you want? What are you willing to pay for it? After knowing the importance of goals why is it that the average person does not set goals. I believe there is 5 reasons why they do not set goals.

"The average person will go through life with this victim mentality. They feel like they do not control their life."

First reason that they do not set goals is because they have not taken full responsibility for their life. The average person will go through life with this victim mentality. They feel like they do not control their life. These are the people that if they have a failure or do not come through on what they said they would do, they are the first ones to blame someone for their outcome and make excuses. My advice for them is if you truly feel like you have no control over your outcomes and you literally are just going through life with no control of what happens to you, I would find another country, planet or universe to move to, I would check out of this one first chance I got. Take responsibility for your life and realize it’s a good thing that you control your life because if you are in control then you can make sure you get there.

"There are the few who talk and the few who do."

The second reason why people don’t set goals is because the average person is a talker not doer. There are the few who talk and the few who do. The average person would rather talk about what they are going to do or post about it on Facebook to get some likes then actually go out there and do it. When you talk about what you are going to do the endorphins are released so you start to feel good that’s why everyone will talk about it but not actually do it. The average person is not willing to do whatever it takes to reach their goal. The average person is busy talking about it while the successful person has already done it. Which one are you?

"Why would you attempt to set a goal if you believe you won’t hit it?"

The third reason the average person does not set goals is because they have no belief that they can actually accomplish their goal. Why would you attempt to set a goal if you believe you won’t hit it? These are the people that say “what’s the point?” They believe they will not hit it and since they expect not to hit it that’s what they get. You don’t get what you want you get what you expect. Since the average person expects to fail that’s what they get. Start expecting greatness and you will become great.

"Your main goal when you are growing up is to feel love and your greatest love comes from your parents if you don’t feel loved by your parents you stop whatever you are doing so you can gain their approval."

Fourth reason why they don’t set goals is because the fear of criticism. This fear is engraved in you by the time you are 6 because by the time you are 6 you will have heard no over 5,000 time from your parents. Criticism is a form of rejection and no one like being rejected. When you were growing up you would try something new but if your parents didn’t like it or approved of what you were doing you would stop. Your main goal when you are growing up is to feel love and your greatest love comes from your parents if you don’t feel loved by your parents you stop whatever you are doing so you can gain their approval. That same thought process transfers over to you when you go through school and seek approval from your peer and then eventually from your boss throughout your career. This fear will hold the average person back from attempting something new.

"Fear of failing is the most important and it will cripple people and stop them from ever setting goals."

The fifth reason and main reason people don’t set goals is because of the fear of failure. Fear of failing is the most important and it will cripple people and stop them from ever setting goals. When you are in school an F is considered the worst grade you can get it is considered failing. When anyone receives this grade they are thought of as dumb and they get made fun of. That is why the average person will take the road less traveled by and do whatever it takes to not fail. Even if that means giving up on your dream. There is a common factor between all successful people though. They were considered the greatest but that’s because they were the greatest failures. The year Babe Ruth broke home run record and became the greatest of all the time that same year he held the record for most strike outs. Michael Jordan is considered to be the best basketball player of all time. He holds the best shooting percentage of all time and his shooting percentage was 50% just to let you know 50% is considered failing by the average person. You ask Michael Jordan if he sees himself as a failure and he will tell you he is the greatest of all time. You can’t have success without failure. So don’t be afraid to fail be afraid not to fail because if you’re not failing you’re not getting any closer to success.

Successful people realized that they had these same reasons for not setting goals the difference is they decided to improve upon these areas so they could accomplish their goals. What is the one goal you wish to accomplish in the next 30 days? Write it down and figure out how you’re going to overcome the 5 reasons that average people don’t set goals. Then go to work on your goal and