How can you help someone adjust their goals if they are not making progress?

Identify the REAL problem Often people get distracted by symptoms and misdiagnose the problem. After working on it on a while, reevaluate if you have identified the correct problem.

You’d think is by understanding the problem. Most of the times is reassessing the goal itself. Having worked with 2,000 clients I understood that we overestimate what we can do in a year and largely underestimate what we can do in a decade.

Use a facilitator's tool called "Gap Analysis." Identify the goal and also the present situation. The distance between the two is the "gap." Maybe the goal was not SMART. Perhaps the tactics and strategy were off-base. Once the gap has been identified, open up to new and creative ways to go through, around or over the gap to reach the goal. Sometimes the result of the analysis is to see that the goal was not the correct one to soleve the problem.

The first and foremost identifier is being realistic. Accordingly mapping goals and objectives. Not comparing oneself to anyone is the key. As the saying goes, discpline is more important than motivation.

Define your smart goal. Do brain mapping to identify all aspects. Look out for lessons learnt, what worked, what did not work and how best to improve.

More than refining, I like to redefine goals. A goal is always in the past. An outcome helps you focus on the future. Just as in the article example, losing weight is a goal. A healthy lifestyle is an outcome.

Hone Your Aspiration: Refine your aspiration to be sharp and well-defined. Aim for goals that are clear-cut, trackable, within reach, meaningful, and time-sensitive. For instance, rather than a nebulous "get fit", opt for "shed 10 pounds in 3 months through thrice-weekly workouts and a healthy diet".

The identification of the problem aids in setting measurable goals and enables individuals to evaluate their progress effectively. By clearly defining the problem, individuals can set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that allow for tracking progress and assessing the effectiveness of their actions. Without accurate identification of the problem, it becomes challenging to gauge progress or determine whether the goals have been achieved or not.

Refine your goal. That's right. Making your goal to be SMART as a way of refining it is a good step in the right direction. To be practical, write out the exact actions you want to take to get the results you desire. Also, state how you are going to reward yourself for achieving your goals. It is a way of clapping yourself as a champion.

If lack of specificity is the problem, than adjusting your goals to make them more identifiable is absolutely a strategy. However, perhaps they were already specific and what you now need is to consider changing the end goal or a milestone. I generally advise people to look at if there are ways the goal can be split into more incremental milestones, so that wins can occur at more regularity. Also, looking back at your challenges, it's important to analyze if any of the challenges are ones that cannot be overcome. Some goals cannot be achieved - e.g., you can become a champion skier overnight if you don't ski. It's okay to adjust goals based on realizations. That is a BIG part of growth.

If you want to overcome stage fright, stand on empty stages, tell a story to your friends, try speaking for five min in front of five people. If you want to write a non-fiction book, don't worry about the topic and title, write one LinkedIn article a week. After three months, you will get clarity about your book and have the motivation to continue writing. So slice your goals into the smallest tasks and allow yourself a long time to achieve your goal. Keep the goal at the back of your mind, focus on the small task at hand.

Employ kaizen—small incremental movement. Go slow and break things down into achievable chunks. This reduces the fear response to a goal or action that is too big.

Yes, leaders must reduce priorities for people. There should be no confusion regarding the top priority. If progress is not being made, in my experience people spread themselves too thin!

Segment the Journey: Dissect your aspiration into bite-sized, manageable fragments. This approach wards off the demons of overwhelm, ennui, or bewilderment. Each fragment should be actionable, quantifiable, and time-framed. For example, in launching a business, segment into stages like market research, business plan development, securing funds, formalizing the business, and launching your digital presence.

3 ways to Break it down: 1. Chunk it Up: Divide your goal into smaller, more manageable tasks. Tackling one step at a time is less overwhelming. 2. Set Milestones: Establish intermediate markers to track your progress. Celebrating small wins keeps motivation high. 3. Time Segmentation: Allocate specific time slots to work on different aspects of your goal. This helps maintain focus and prevents procrastination.

The small wins compile to create the big ones —the more each little one (can be tiny! daily if possible) is celebrated, the more momentum you have to gain the big ones. The other emotion to amplify this is gratitude.

Revel in Your Triumphs: Don't hold off till the final curtain to celebrate your triumphs. Applaud every landmark, every stride forward, and every ounce of effort invested towards your aim. These celebrations fuel your confidence, drive, and joy. Reward yourself, share your victories, or simply bask in gratitude for your journey.

Expect the word "no" and appreciate "yes" It doesn't matter whether you are in sales or not; we all experience being told no; let that be your compass to "Yes." If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.

Another crucial reason for identifying the problem in goal setting is that it enhances motivation and commitment. When individuals have a clear understanding of the problem they are trying to solve, they are more likely to stay motivated and committed throughout the goal-setting process. The problem serves as a driving force, inspiring individuals to take action and persevere despite obstacles or setbacks that may arise along the way.

There's a reason why charts are used to help promote progress when we are children. They work. That concept does not go away, though we tend to focus less on the steps the older we get. Celebrating the incremental gains is essential to motivation forward and reminding yourself that forward is forward. When we increase effort, we often gain more losses in addition to more wins and that can be unpleasant to deal with. Take time to honor the gains.

Don’t be afraid of criticism, especially when it is honest and objective. We are our own harshest critics and also the most qualified. Yes you’ve achieved your goal but the journey wasn’t perfect because that isn’t possible. Look at your achievements and put your pride aside for a moment so that you can honestly evaluate your progress. Were there mistakes? Could you have done something differently? Was it too much or little? By making ourselves accountable, we are more easily able to objectively evaluate our goals and take in the input of others.

Harvest Feedback: Actively seek and harvest feedback, an invaluable tool for growth and refinement. Gather insights from introspection or from others’ perspectives. This feedback shines a light on effective strategies, areas for adjustment, and lessons from missteps or setbacks.

Don't be afraid to ask others about ourselves, this is the thing I always do in my daily life. By getting feedback from the people who are around us, we can get a lot of different perspectives and opinions from everyone about ourselves. After listening to everyone we should try to understand where we are going down and try to improve it.

Time for reflection regardless of the outcome is a key piece in building the toolbox and library you will use for future goals.

No one is an island of knowledge, hence it makes all the sense to seek for advice and suggestion on how to get better and improve

Change is the only constant. Goals remain, the road getting their evolves. You learn how to adjust, improve and grow. There's not one road to the goal, what works for you might not work for your neighbour.

As stated, adjust as needed. I think this is at least for me the most difficult step. There is always that balance between pushing through and when to see the handwriting on the wall that (the goal) it's just not going to happen. The idea of '3 feet from Gold' as described by Napoleon Hill in the book, Think and Grow Rich comes to mind. When we are in the midst of it, when we are so close to a breakthrough but we still don't see it yet, it's not easy to know if one should adjust, change the goal, add more time to the timeline, or refocus. Sometimes when we set a goal we are unaware of all that was involved with it. Once we've set upon the path towards the goal more information is revealed and we can better determine if and how to adjust.

I’d swap “Adjust if needed” to “Adjust, is needed!” Strategies ≠ Tactics. Good strategies allow us to pivot. Tactics can and SHOULD change. Environments are and must be, dynamic.

Keep goals small really helps! Instead of a big goal like 25 lbs, look at losing 5 lbs at a time. It’s more manageable and not do overwhelming.

True resilience lies in recognizing when a pivot is necessary. Whether it's as small as adjusting tactics, refining a strategy, or as big as crafting new goals that align with your growth. What purpose does a goal serve that no longer resonates with you, after all? In all that you do, it's important to remember that aiming for a goal is actively anticipating change. And achieving it is not as meaningful as the lesson learned along the way and the person one grows into. In essence, reaching a goal signifies evolving into the person capable of achieving it.

Go Back to the First Principles : If you are convinced that by giving it your all, you are not making progress the desired outcome , you need to go back to the Drawing board. Ask yourself the first principle questions regards the goal, key milestones , desired outcome and what would success look like. Doing this may result into a) A very different goal than earlier one b) Same goal with different outcome c) Same goal Same outcome but different milestones In any of the cases, Reflect, refocus, and restart.

Additional Nuggets of Wisdom: Embrace the notion that the journey itself is as vital as the destination. Remember, each step taken, even those leading to unexpected detours, offers invaluable lessons and experiences. It's about the evolution of your abilities, understanding, and character. Don't underestimate the power of patience and persistence. Success often comes to those who wait and persevere, not just to the swift. Also, maintain a spirit of curiosity and openness to new ideas and perspectives, as they can provide fresh insights and solutions to challenges. Lastly, keep in mind that flexibility and the willingness to adapt are crucial in a world that's constantly changing.

There is no need for adjustment. The goal remains intake modus of operandi change. 1) If goal seems big changes to be incorporated by splitting total goal in 1/4 once first quarter achieve than disclose another quarter target alongwith extra incentive as journey ahead . 2) Looking at external/internal environments adjustment require in short run but long run remains intake. 3) The team buying can be increased by giving them booster dozes through external facilitator training camp. 4) imvolve all cost centre people to revenue centre for achieving ultimate goal collectively.

In most cases, the solution is YOU. If there is no progress in achieving a goal, there must be an inner resistance (fear of additional responsibilities, impact on other areas of life, shifts in relationships with others, etc.). Figuring out what is holding you back on a subconscious level can help to release lots of mental energy and reinvesting it in achieving your goal.

On your health journey, there is no finish line! This is why diets don’t work. Diets imply you will go back to your old habits once you reach your goal. Making your health a priority and lifestyle will lead to long lasting success!