goal setting mindset

One of the most important factors for success is your mindset. No matter what you want to achieve in your life, you need to adopt the right mindset to produce the results you want. Without the right mindset, no matter what goals you set, you’re bound to fail.

Successful people are different from unsuccessful people because of their mindset. It is their thinking that makes them do things differently.

Thus, if you want to achieve your goals, you must adopt the right mindset that will help you create the results you want and reach your goals.

Here are the 7 mindsets you must adopt to be successful and to accomplish all your goals:

1. Don’t try, just do and make it happen

Do or do not, there is no try.

First, and most important of all, don’t try, just do it and make it happen. Many people fail to achieve their goals because they are not fully committed to their goals.

Instead of making their goals a must achieve, they TRY to achieve their goals. And you know what, when you try, you will never give it your all. You become half-hearted in your attempt and you do things in a half-interested manner.

When you think about it this way, whether you achieve your goals or fail at them are not really that important, as long as you try, right?

However, for extraordinary people, they are 100% committed. They make their goals a must-achieve. They are willing to do whatever it takes to make their goals a reality. They don’t accept any other answer except ‘success’.

Try telling Elon Musk that he’s going to fail. Guess what he will tell you:

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”

This is the kind of mindset that separates the successful from the unsuccessful. Successful people choose to do it even though they know that they may fail. But they don’t give up and they choose to work hard to achieve their goals.

Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, go in with a half-hearted attempt. They TRY their best. And when they fail, they accept their failure and give up. They say that things are not going to work out and give other lousy excuses.

Extraordinary people will NEVER treat their goals this way. They know what they want, and they are 100% committed to it.

What about you? Are you interested to achieve your goals or are you fully committed?

Read: 10 Powerful Steps How to Fully Commit to Goals That Terrify You

2. Adopt the mindset of a “finisher”

It's not how you start, but how you finish. And finish strong.

It is important to begin, but when it comes to getting results, completion is more important than starting.

Once you have set a goal, see it to its completion. Don’t start a project and then fail to complete it. You must adopt the mindset of a “finisher” and get things done.

A lot of people are living in mediocrity because they don’t stick to their plans. They start an exercise schedule, but they don’t follow through until the end.

Many people start a blog, but they are only active in the first month. After that, they lose their interest and they don’t stick to their plan anymore.

If you set a 3 months goal to lose weight, stick to your plan and exercise for 3 months. Don’t just do it for the first few weeks or days, and then stop doing it.

There is no point to keep on starting a new project or to set a new goal if you can’t complete it.

Having a fully completed project or goal has more impact in your life than having 10 incomplete ones.

Imagine your goal is to write and publish a book on Amazon. You have the title and you have drafted the idea. But if you don’t finish the book, you can’t publish it. Even if you have 10 book ideas, none are going to be as impactful as a completed book that you can publish and start seeing people buying from you.

Do you get that? Having one completed goal has a bigger positive impact on your life than having 10 incomplete goals.

So, don’t become a starter, become a finisher. Make this your mindset and you will see your goals to completion.

Read: How to Become a Strong Finisher

3. Don’t downgrade your goals, upgrade yourself

There are 2 ways to be happy: Improve your reality, or lower your expectations.

Do you know what happens when people fail to reach their goals or produce the results they want? They downgrade their goals.

I’m telling you, don’t downgrade your goals and don’t lower your standards. Instead, choose to upgrade yourself and up your standards so that you can achieve your goals.

Many people choose to downgrade their goals. When they fail to make $10,000 a month, they decrease the impact of their goals. They then set a lower goal like making $8,000 instead of the original goal of making $10,000.

And what if they fail to make $8,000? Most will then give up on their goal and choose to go back to their respective life and stop thinking about making more money.

While it is true that if you set an unrealistic goal, you will fail. But when you up your standards, think out of the box, and give yourself enough time to work on your goal? Do you think there is a possibility?

Of course, you do. No matter what goals you want to achieve, as long as someone else out there has accomplished it, then you too can do it.

The problem is that most people downgrade their goals instead of upgrading their skills and knowledge when they don’t get the results they desire.

Successful people know that in order to achieve their goals, they must improve themselves, work on themselves, and take progressive action that will lead them to their goals.

It may not be easy, but it is not impossible too. Hence, adopt this mindset to help you achieve your goals right now. Constantly work on improving yourself. Become better each day.

Read: How To Improve Yourself Every Day Through Benchmark Goals

4. Tell yourself it is alright to fail

Failure is simply an opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.

Another common difference between successful people and ordinary people is that successful people are willing to take the risk and fail, while unsuccessful people prefer safety and certainty.

“If you want to discover new oceans, you must first have the courage to leave the shore.”

If you continue to do what you have always done, you will get the same old results you have always gotten. Thus, make a change. Dare to venture out of your comfort zone and do something different.

Think about it, if you are overweight right now and you want to lose the additional fat, but if you continue to stick to your normal routine, nothing will change.

You still eat the same food, go through your everyday life the same, and you don’t exercise. Nothing will change. You will still be overweight because you didn’t make any changes at all.

If you’re serious about reaching your goals and making your life better, you need to have the courage to do something you’re not comfortable with.

And what if you fail? It is alright to fail. In fact, to be successful, you must go through failures because people learn more from failures than from successes.

We have been conditioned by society that failure is bad. When you fail in school, you may get ridiculed. People may laugh at you and your teacher will condemn you for your mistakes.

This is why we shun failure. But you can’t achieve great success without failure. The reason is that failure works as feedback telling what is wrong and what you need to do to make things right.

Therefore, don’t be afraid to fail. Reframe your mindset and think that failures are actually good. The more you fail, the better you become. And the better you become, the more you can achieve.

5. Envision a meaningful and impactful future

Life is about making an impact, not making an income.

Another common reason most people fail at their goals is that they lack motivation. In the beginning, they may be very motivated to achieve their goals, but as time went by, they started to lose interest and eventually, they stop taking action because they feel motivated any more.

If you want to maintain your motivation in your journey, you must envision for a more meaningful and impactful purpose for your goals.

People are more motivated when they know that what they do are making a positive impact on other people’s lives.

Why do you think that people are more willing to work for a bigger company like Apple, Google, or Tesla? Well, it is because these companies have a larger than life vision.

Take Tesla as an example. Elon Musk believes in electric vehicles and he believes that EV can greatly reduce the pollution the world faces today. The company aims to build a better product that will significantly impact other people’s lives. Hence, more people are willing to work for a company that has a meaningful vision.

You want to be a part of something positive and meaningful, right?

Thus, make your vision meaningful and impactful. Ask yourself, how can achieving your goals help and serve others? How can your success give a positive impact on the world? What kind of value are you trying to bring to people?

When what you do is meaningful, you are more motivated to act. Read the book, Give and Take, written by Adam Grant, and you will understand how to maintain your drive through working on a meaningful purpose.

6. Have patience and believe in yourself

A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.

This is the one mindset that unsuccessful people lack. They want quick fixes. They lack patience and they don’t see things in the long-term.

Unsuccessful people believe in the short-term and they want results fast. When they don’t get the results, they started to doubt themselves and they started to look for other solutions. This is why they fail because success is not an overnight result.

If you study the stories of successful people like Lionel Messi, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, or Michael Jordan, you will notice that these people don’t just work hard for one day or one week. They’ve been very consistent throughout their entire lives, and this is why they become the best in their industry.

Successful people have patience and they believe in themselves. They know that success isn’t something that they can achieve in a week or a month. It often takes years to produce amazing results in life. And they know that.

They have a long-term vision for what they want and they stick to their vision. They are also not easily affected by other people around them. They trust their gut feelings and they listen to their inner voices.

This is why successful people are willing to work harder than most people, to do something extraordinary where most people don’t dare to do, and they are willing to keep their goals rather than changing goals and jumping from one project to the next.

You too, must adopt this mindset. Have the patience and believe that you can do it. As long as you don’t give up, continue to work on your goals, and keep on improving yourself, you will eventually get there.

Read: 15 Tips for Becoming as Patient as Job

7. Appreciate the journey not just the results

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is a reward.

All too often, we work relentlessly toward our goals, but when you focus too much on getting the results, you may forget about the journey.

No matter what goals you have, it is the journey that matters. Without the journey, you can never achieve your goals. And if you go through a tough journey that you hate, you’re going to give up sooner than you imagine.

This is why you must appreciate your progress, find the fun in it, and be grateful for all the things you’ve learned in the journey.

Don’t set a goal for the sake of the results. While it is true that we all want the results, but if your journey doesn’t empower you, you will feel ’empty’ even when you have achieved your goals.

The journey is important. It is what you go through that will transform you into a better person who is worthy of success. Think about it, without being the right person, without having the right characteristics, the right habits, the right behaviors, and the right mindset, do you think you can become successful?

Not at all. It is your journey and what you have gone through that will transform you who you are.

Therefore, appreciate your journey. Celebrate your success. And feel good for all the effort you have put in.

Successful people value the journey more than their success. This is why they continue to work even when they have accomplished their goals and become super successful. They love doing it. They appreciate their journey.

When you love and appreciate what you do, success will come.

Remember, your journey builds your characters. And if you don’t go through the journey, you will never improve, hence, can never be successful.

Learn to be grateful for everything you have experienced. And celebrate your progress.

Conclusion

If you want to achieve your goals, you must develop the right mindset. When you have the right mindset, you will do the right thing that will eventually lead you to your goals.

The above are the 7 mindsets that every goal seeker must-have. Learn them, and then make them part of your life.

And if you need help in setting and achieving goals, check out Goal Setting Formula.

So, what do you think about this article? Do you think that these mindsets are helpful? Let me know what you think by leaving your comment below.

This article may contain affiliate links. Meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. As always, I only recommend products and services I trust.

By Shawn Lim

Hi there, this is Shawn. I inspire people to achieve their goals and dreams and to reach for higher success in life. If you want to learn more about me, kindly go to the About page. By the way, have you downloaded your FREE copy of The 90-90-1 Rule? Don't forget to do so. Cheers. :)

2 thoughts on “Goal Setting: 7 Mindsets You Must Develop to Achieve Your Goals”
  1. Set goals that you believe you can achieve. The goals can be big or small, but it is important that you believe you can make them come true. If you have doubts, or think they are too big or unrealistic, you will set obstacles on your way.

    1. That’s absolutely true. First, believe in yourself that you can achieve it and then believe the goal is possible. 🙂

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