Goal Setting

That May Be a Reason, But No Excuse

People come to me to achieve results. They typically want something to be different in their life. They may feel they’re in a dead-end job or they might be struggling in a relationship. They may want strategies to change their life, improve their marriage, lose weight, create a meaningful existence, decrease their debt, get fit, encourage their staff, grow their business, or to learn to be kinder to them.

I frequently work with clients who have the best intentions but have difficulty maintaining the behaviors that support the change. You know the type: the person who is forever going on a diet but allows all sorts of obstacles to get in his or way.

This happens regularly with parents who are asked to follow an intervention for 28 days. When they return for a check-in I ask them to evaluate how the strategy worked. They give me the “knowing look” and complain that their child did not respond to the consequence so they stopped utilizing the powerful technique. They admit that they knew they were supposed to do it for 28 days, but since it didn’t appear to be working, they gave up.

Are you one of these people who give up and then have trouble achieving your goals? Do you see yourself as wanting to accomplish something important in your life? Do you wish you could create the change, but somehow you fall off the track or lack the drive or ambition to get the job done?

Do you claim that you will do things differently yet come up with all sorts of reasons why you couldn’t complete the goal? A celebration interfered with your food choices. An emotionally fragile day prompted you to give in to your child. You overslept and missed your opportunity to follow through with fitness. Attending to the daily grind prevented you from writing down your goals.

The reasons can go on and on. (as does your inability to make your life different.)

My typical response to a person who doesn’t follow through with their plans is to say, “Those may be valid reasons, but that is no excuse.”

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