When You Don’t Reach Your Goals, Part 2

Even the highest-achieving goal-setters fall short of their aim from time to time. In some cases, you can easily pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move to the next goal. But as I mentioned in Part 1 of this series, sometimes the consequences are high, such as when your job depends on your successful goal achievement. What then?

When you set a goal and don’t achieve it, here are some things that definitely will not help: blame, excuses, cover-ups, denial, dwelling. Not only do these responses reflect negatively on you, they disrupt your integrity and stunt future goal achievement.

Instead, be honest. Debrief with the questions I shared in Part 1, to learn from the experience. 

Share with your supervisor what you feel you could have done differently, and ask for her suggestions as well. Enter the conversation with a game plan. 

Evaluate your strengths and how (or perhaps, if) they come into play with your goals – and how you could bring those strengths more to the forefront.

And, of course, pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and move forward. As you do so, keep these tips in mind:

Setting yourself up for success early in the goal-setting process is especially important when the stakes are high. Start by breaking your goal into sub-goals, milestones, and consistent actions.  In my coaching work, I often help clients set one-year goals, which we then break down into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and even daily segments. It’s difficult to know on a Tuesday in January when action will make your December goal a reality, but it’s easy to see what action on that Tuesday will help you hit your weekly milestone.

Make sure to gain your supervisor’s input early and frequently. Just like you wouldn’t want to hear about a performance issue for the first time at your annual review, your leaders don’t want to be surprised without time to help you course-correct if necessary.

Shoot for big wins early in the game. When you kickstart into action, you will gain momentum quickly and be less likely to feel the need to scramble later.

Most importantly, line up your support. Often an objective coach, in tandem with your supervisor, can provide the guidance and resources to help you kick your goal into high gear. 

For example, one of my executive coaching clients was responsible for increasing sales 20% in one year – an incredibly lofty goal in her department and industry. Part of her felt invigorated by the challenge; part of her freaked out about actually being able to achieve it. 

She hired me early and we created quarterly, monthly, weekly, all the way down to daily actions needed to stay on course. We examined her Success Stoplight, eliminating tasks she did not need to continue. She was able to exceed the goal while improving her work/life balance and keeping meaning and purpose at the forefront. Whether you hire MAP Inc. or someone else, get a certified coach in your corner. You will be glad you did.

As a recovering perfectionist, I understand that setting a goal and not achieving it is, well, not fun. But it happens, and like most un-fun experiences, it usually prompts significant growth. 

Learn from the experience, set the stage for success moving forward, then grow forth!