We’re already in the 5th month of the year 2021. Time does pass by quickly when you’re in quarantine. Many of us are still having a hard time starting the goals we set for 2021. If you’re part of the group, here are a few reasons why you’re not starting.

I spend a reasonable amount of time talking to clients and other people on social media. I found out that people are not starting or being persistent with what they want to do.

Some want to create a fitness Instagram account, and others want to live life boldly. They are two different goals. However, the one common thing is that they don’t start doing what they want.

Here are the reasons why you don’t start working on your goals.

You’re not willing to start. 

Many people don’t have the drive, they’re not inspired, they have something that they want to do, but it’s not big enough, it’s not scary enough for them to do it. It’s like they don’t have what they should have to reach their goal. It’s normal that many people do not have the drive or willingness to start something, and if they start, they sometimes feel like they’re going to sell themselves short.

You think you don’t have the resources to accomplish your goals.

The word here is “thinking,” so you probably did your research, and you see that to reach your goals, you need new materials. However, most of the time, when you’re starting something, you don’t really need those things. Sometimes you just need to start with what you have. We tend to think that to start something; we need a bunch of tools.

For example, when it comes to losing weight, all you need is your body. You can just walk around your house and do a few push-ups. You can do all these things because you already have what’s required. Still, since you see on social media that people are going to the gym, you wait to start because you don’t have a gym membership or can’t start because the gym is closed in your area.

You worry that people will judge you as incompetent.

Many people think that they’re not qualified to accomplish their goals. If that’s on your mind, I want you to know that nobody cares about you. People are not judging you. They’re probably watching you, but there are not that many that are judging you. 

So please remove that mental barrier that there’s someone out there watching and waiting for you to fail. Most of the time, you starting something new will inspire someone to start.

You blame procrastination or laziness for not starting or staying consistent.

Some people like to blame other people, and sometimes it’s not other people that we blame; it’s habits that we blame, habits like procrastinating or laziness. We tend to tell ourselves that we are incompetent or lazy. We just love to procrastinate. Our narrative usually goes like, “I really need to stop procrastinating. It’s because of the procrastination that I’m not able to do it.” The reality is you are in control of your life, you are in control of what you should be doing, and you know how to stop those things, so it’s essential to recognize that if your blaming procrastination, then you’re blaming yourself.

You overthink everything about the tasks.

You don’t just think that you need more materials, but you believe that the task is complicated. You don’t think about making it simple; you don’t think about how you might be good at it. You overthink a lot as you think about how complicated it will be. Overthinking does not help you throughout this process.

Overthinking was one of the blocks that I had to face when I started my blog. It took me about three months to start my blog because I was overthinking. I was worried about how hard creating a website can be, about the audience and to look dumb in front of people that knew me. I had to get rid of all those things and publish my blog.

You want to be perfect at it.

Being perfect sounds like overthinking, but you are just putting more pressure on yourself. You probably want to start a YouTube channel but what’s stopping you is that you don’t have a good camera. You want to buy the expensive camera you saw one Youtuber use. Or you’re worried about how your grammar or voice will sound like. Perfection isn’t necessary when you start something. Know that everything you start won’t be perfect no matter how perfect you want it to be.

You don’t ask for assistance when required.

I understand that sometimes we need resources, we need to gain knowledge about particular stuff, but I noticed that many people don’t invest in themselves. Sometimes we know a good coach that would help us reach our goal, but we don’t pay other people to help us. We tend to lie to ourselves by telling ourselves that we will be fine. However, you know that the coach, book or course would actually give you a good start.

You are seeking motivation elsewhere.

One thing that’s stopping you from starting is the lack of self-motivation. When you rely on other things or people to motivate you to do something, that will be your downfall because it’s not sustainable. You won’t be able to continue in the long run. 

For example, let’s say you have a fitness buddy and the person decides to quit. You will be more prone to give up on your goals because your partner decided to quit. So you have to have that self-motivation when you start from the beginning. The reason for accomplishing your goal should be clear. Knowing exactly why you’re doing what you do will motivate you regardless if someone gives up on you or not.

You’re speaking negatively about the success of your goals.

So you set yourself up for an admirable goal, something that nobody around you is doing. Just when you think you have a good plan, you start thinking, “what if it does not work?” Those what-ifs can kill your goals. So I want you to remember that when you speak negatively about the success of your goal, it’s not going to work. You need to stop talking negatively about your life, your plans, and everything. After all, you might not reach it because you’re so negative.

You’re letting your environment speak negatively about your goals.

When you are in a space where you know you have people who do not think like you, people who are not goal-oriented, you have to be careful because it might not help you move forward. Many people will find themselves trying to move forward, and then they have people around them speak negatively about their goal. They will give you all the reasons why your goals will fail. There’s a lot of people that might start laughing at you, and you’re going to defend yourself, but you know deep down they’re probably laughing at the right thing, and you know deep down that they’re probably right.

It might not be the people around you but perhaps your space, where you live. Maybe your room is cluttered, and you will need more space to accomplish your goals. Unclutter your home to get your stuff straight.

These are all the reasons that I came up with; some of them are limiting beliefs. A limiting belief is something that’s limiting you to do something and accomplishing something. So you need to work on it. If one or more of them resonated with you, I want you to write it down and then turn it into a positive affirmation. 

For example, you can say, “I am qualified to do this, I can do this.” you can now see it positively, and to finish, if you want to overcome all of these obstacles, you have to start today. 

I hope you love this blog. Please share it with your friends, anyone you know that might need it.