Why You Will Continue to Fail At Your Goals

Wow. A somewhat morbid title, right? Well, I want to jump right into this one because it took me a while to understand and cope with why nothing seemed to be working for me. So I’ve spoken before about how much I have on my plate between school, working, church obligations, family obligations, working out, and having personal time. You may think that’s a lot to balance, and trust me, it is. But it is definitely possible.

I’m in the last few semesters of my counseling program at school and right now I’m in a class where we’re learning about the different techniques of counseling. We take turns being a counselor, a client, and an observer. Last week as a client, I spoke to my counselor about my work life balance and how I was struggling. I really utilized our counseling session to get some personal things off my chest that I was experiencing like the feeling of failure in my life; more specifically, how I wasn’t where I thought I should be. I had set goals years ago that I still seem to be struggling to accomplish and it all just kind of sprung up on me.

I remember telling him that it seemed like my problems had a domino affect. Like, I’d have one problem and then my thought process spiraled into thinking about all the other problems I was having or how things weren’t how I wanted them to be. It can all be stressful. But I want to tell you guys that managing the stress and anxiety is definitely possible.

There can be plenty of reasons why you’re not achieving your initially set goals. Lack of sleep, inconsistency, doubt, insecurities, unhealthy comparisons….I mean the list goes on and on. And I’m not belittling any of those reasons. But overall, the number one reason why you can’t reach your goals is because you don’t have God in your life. Now this isn’t to say that you don’t have God in your life at all. What I actually mean is that maybe you didn’t pray for your goal that you want to accomplish. Many people pray for raises, new jobs, new homes, even to pass exams in college (I know I have!). But sometimes people don’t pray about things that “aren’t that big”. Take for instance losing weight or becoming healthier in general. Most people don’t pray and apply scripture to it like they would receiving financial blessings. Some people pay their tithes, give to charity, ect. and then pray to God for a financial increase, quoting the bible and the promises within it. There’s nothing wrong with reminding God of the promises he has laid out in the bible. But do we do that for things on a smaller scale?

Consider the following scriptures:

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6

“He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6

“And whatsoever ye ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” John 14:13-14

“Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalms 37:4

The bible tells us to put God first in all that we do. If we think about it, how can anything in our lives be blessed without involving God? How can it be the best possible scenario without Him. We have to acknowledge God in all we do, even the simple things. Think about your best friend. You call them, hang out with them, tell them your problems, ask for help, ect. because that’s your person (yes, I love Grey’s Anatomy lol). But that’s the relationship that God wants to have with us. He wants us to involve Him in all we do, except for sin of course. In that aspect, He wants us to ask for forgiveness. But the scripture says in ALL that we do. Not some, not a little bit. But ALL.

Once we establish a more concrete relationship with God, we will begin to receive the desires of our hearts. God wants us to have the things we want. He wants us to achieve our goals and lead successful lives in our temporary home. But in a way, it’s like quid pro quo. Of course, he still blesses us with things when we don’t deserve it, but he truly wants us to have a genuine relationship with Him. A healthy relationship involves both parties contributing to make it work. It’s not one person asking all the time and the other person blindly giving. I mean really, would you want a friend like that? We probably have friends like that who we don’t really communicate with just off that fact alone.

Now of course, there’s things that need to happen on our end as well. We need to be proactive in reaching our goals. If you know you have a problem being late all the time (ME, ME, ME, lol), first, acknowledge that fact and then make a plan to change it. Start going to bed earlier, prepare your clothes, meals, and whatever else the night before. I think deep down, people know what they need to change, but just choose not to. That’s where you need to really analyze if you want things to change or not. There’s the saying, “If you’re tired of the same results, stop doing the same thing.” This couldn’t be truer.

So I just wanted to encourage someone who may be struggling to have hope. Establish and/or strengthen your relationship with God. Put him first before all the other things in your life and you will begin to see so many doors open up for you. Giving your time to God guarantees blessings:

“Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6:38

Stay consistent, establish discipline in your life, and pray to God. Trust me, it WILL work. That’s it for this post. Gotta go and celebrate my birthday!!! Let me know one goal that you’re striving towards accomplishing in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you all. Until next time!!