Unveiling the Blueprint for Success: The 8% Advantage in Goal Achievement – Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash
New Year’s resolutions, yeah I don’t subscribe to these but for those who do there is something important to do to avoid being part of the massive amount of people who fail. A groundbreaking study by the University of Scranton reveals a stark reality – a staggering 92% of individuals fail to meet their goals. As we delve into the reasons behind this alarming statistic, a critical factor emerges: the mindset of personal responsibility. The triumphant 8% who successfully navigate the journey from goal-setting to accomplishment showcase a profound commitment to accountability, steering clear of victimhood. In this exploration, we’ll draw insights from a thought-provoking article by Marcel Schwantes, shedding light on how embracing personal responsibility can liberate individuals from the 92% trap.
Everyone seems to be a victim nowadays. Can’t sleep? It is your partner’s fault or your bed is old and needs to be replaced. You didn’t get that job? They must be judging you by your last name as that provides clues to your culture. Yeah, that must be it. So while you sit around and feel sorry for yourself and you sit in the very large room of failures I hope you are getting uncomfortable. It is time to change your mindset and get out of your own way. Per this study, 92% of those who get involved in goal setting fail, and in another mention of 92% I heard those who don’t subscribe to victimhood they fix their own problems.
To do this you must eliminate vagueness in your methods and break down your goals into clear, actionable steps. By establishing clarity around objectives, individuals significantly enhance their motivation and increase their chances of success. This aligns with the idea that goals, when too vague or unchallenging, often lead to lackluster outcomes.
The 8% who accomplish their goals distinguish themselves through an unparalleled passion and commitment. Schwantes underscores the importance of intrinsic motivation and an unwavering belief in the “do whatever it takes” philosophy. This commitment becomes an internal compass, propelling individuals forward even in the face of obstacles. With passion or stepping away from blaming others for your failures, you find yourself just going to the next step that is needed in order to get the job done. I have applied to many jobs in the last year and I have gotten rejection letters from these applications. Sure, a few times I made an excuse for why maybe I wasn’t given the job, but I didn’t stop and give up and give up hope. This is a numbers game and it also takes time. So you have to continue to submit applications, network, follow up, and keep on moving. If your goal is not financial in nature and say it is about weight loss. Weight loss isn’t easy for everyone but it is even harder when you keep on stuffing your face with bread and cake. Weight loss is also all about time and effort. What you put into it is what you get out of it, and if you are just walking around the block once or twice you aren’t going to see much results but you can’t burn yourself out. Burnout in any practice is bad, remember slow and steady wins the race as you can usually commit to this but to see proper results you have to insert some sprints into your routine to sweat more.
How bad do you want it? Asking oneself about the depth of desire, accountability, and envisioning the transformative outcome resonates with the concept of being passionately committed to a goal.
Commitment does get tiresome at times, and isn’t rest so comforting? This is a very human thing to do, to revert to old habits or lose motivation. You should schedule proper rest if your days are super busy. If your looking to expand your business schedule in exercise, meditation, slack off time to watch movies or to play video games. Doing this will give you the needed stress-killing actions that are important for all of us. If you need to lose 20 lbs and every day is a high-intensity day at the gym, schedule lighter days filled with yin yoga or something like it. You’ll find yourself being able to stick to your commitment as it won’t be so difficult and full of suffering. Schwantes introduces the concept of a feedback cycle. Regular feedback, as emphasized, keeps individuals on track and aids in necessary adjustments. This aligns with the coaching profession’s boom, where individuals benefit tremendously from a structured feedback and accountability system. This feedback is what all business professionals discuss on why regular one-to-one meetings are so important for employees. With all of the teams that I oversee I provide feedback constantly. This is needed because if they don’t know if they are messing up then nothing is going to be fixed. The managers who fail are the ones who wait until the annual review time to discuss the past year’s performance. In my last corporate position I had weekly team meetings, and then every other week I had one to ones with my team members even if we had nothing to discuss. It was office hours of sorts for them to have the ability to bring things up and for me to do the same. Then if someone did forget or mess something up on the team I would push out emails to the entire group to act as a reminder to the entire group as I am sure if one person forgot about something that others would soon forget about it.
The main reason why people fail in goal setting is that their aim is way too high. In the Inc. article the concept of “vertical coherence,” as explained, ensures that immediate goals seamlessly fit into the broader pursuit of long-term objectives. So if my goal was to fill up an artist’s booking calendar for the year I wouldn’t go at to aim for the entire year at once. I would create a vision of what the perfect year would look like then attempt to take it month by month to fill up the calendar given their availability, goals, and other factors. You don’t want to take everything that comes in either it all has to align with the main goals of the artist. This can align with business professionals as well, if you are a middle manager looking to get up to the C-Suite you can’t take all of the projects that come across your desk, you want to take the ones that are going to bring in the most revenue and the ones that can potentially get your name in discussion with the other managers at those levels so you can be looked upon when a position opens up in your company. Always be doing the job you want but don’t leave your team hanging either.
Going at this alone might not be an option for some. Know your strengths and find help along the way if your skills aren’t sharp enough to hit the next goal you need to accomplish. This can be done by surrounding yourself with mentors and advisors as they create a supportive network that can propel you forward. If group think isn’t your thing then seek out a coach or in the music world this might be a manager or an assistant to help you with short-term goals to achieve.
Contrary to the myth of multitasking, Schwantes highlights the success of the 8% lies in patience and taking one step at a time. By avoiding the pitfalls of multitasking, individuals can maintain focus and enhance the quality of their work.
Schwantes refers to research debunking the multitasking myth and emphasizes the importance of breaking down goals into manageable chunks with specific deadlines. This aligns with the idea that a focused, step-by-step approach is more conducive to success. As I was writing this I had emails/text messages come in and when I saw them come in I labeled each one, one was urgent so I sent a quick reply and went right back to writing but the other one didn’t need an immediate response so I will do that in time as I need to keep my writing moving along as it is important to my larger goal to help those who read my content and maybe one day I will have the opportunity to write for a much larger audience.
Conclusion:
Drawing on insights from Marcel Schwantes’ article, we uncover a transformative blueprint for success rooted in personal responsibility. The 8% who emerge victorious in goal achievement are not victims of circumstance but architects of their destinies. By setting specific and challenging goals, fostering passion and commitment, utilizing a feedback cycle, aligning short- and long-term goals, leaning on trusted advisors, and avoiding multitasking, individuals can break free from the 92% trap.
The power to succeed lies within the realm of personal responsibility, and by incorporating these principles into our lives, we can dramatically improve our chances of reaching the summit of our aspirations.
Then to repeat the most important point: Stop being a victim, when you fail, it is always your own fault as no one else has power over you.
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