One out of two people who set goals at the beginning of a year abandons those goals by the end of January.

That’s not surprising when you consider all the reasons people give for not sticking with their resolutions each year.

But here’s the thing.

Many of those people are lying to themselves, and until they understand what’s really going on, they will continue to fall short of their goals.

I don’t want that to happen to you next year, so today I’m sharing information that will help you if and when your commitment to your goal begins to wane.

See, if you understand what’s really causing you to abandon your goals, you’ll know how to overcome it.

So, here are the real underlying reasons you may sometimes find it hard to stick with your goals.

Reason 1: Not Believing in Yourself

You are God’s highest form of creation. If you pause for just a few moments, I think you’ll recognize that it’s true.

Think about it. You can use your thoughts to create almost anything you seriously want. No other creature on earth can do that.

You can use your imagination to create something that has never existed. Something that changes the world.

And you can break performance records, write best-selling books, live in the house of your dreams, build homes and schools for families and children in need, and make all the money you want.

You can do all those things and much more. But you have to believe in yourself.

The question is, why don’t you believe in yourself?

The truth is much of it is not your fault.

You see, many of the beliefs you’ve been programmed with have been around for hundreds of years. Those beliefs might have made sense a long time ago, but they are absolutely absurd today since we live in such a different world. So, many of your current beliefs must be upgraded.

Leland Val Van de Wall said, “Our belief system is based upon our evaluation of something, and frequently if we reevaluate a situation, our belief about that situation will change.”

So if you don’t believe you can achieve your goal, then you must reevaluate some things…

Reevaluate who you are. Reevaluate why you do what you do. Reevaluate what makes you tick. Reevaluate your feelings and behavior. And reevaluate where you are getting advice. The only person(s) you should seriously accept advice from is someone that has already done what you want to do.

Belief is a prerequisite to accomplishing anything of any consequence. It doesn’t matter how much you wish you could reach a goal or how hard you work. If you don’t believe you can do something, you will not succeed.

Reason 2: You Don’t Want It Bad Enough

If you abandon a goal, it may be because it’s not exciting enough for you to put in the effort to reach it. While it might be something you feel you have to do or should do, it may not inspire you.

Instead of setting uninspiring goals that you think you can achieve with just a little more effort, permit the thought that you truly are God’s highest form of creation to flow through your entire being.

Give yourself a new title: Director. Realize that as the director of your life, you can make any movie that you want. Decide what story you want to tell, what scenes you want to shoot, and how you want the movie to end.

Let your mind go and write down several things that you’d really, really like to be, do or have next year.

Then, pick one idea as your goal—something you want, not what you need. There’s no inspiration in needs. If your goal is not big and beautiful, it won’t inspire you. And you will be far more likely to give up on it when the road to its manifestation gets rough.

Reason 3: New Goal, Same Mindset

Many people struggle to reach their goals because they set a goal without changing the way they think.

For example, a salesperson whose sales are low will set a high-income goal for the year, but they give up on it within a few months.

Or someone may decide each year that this is the year that they’ll get in shape. So, they start running five days a week, lift weights three days a week, and change their diet. However, within a few weeks, they stop exercising and go back to eating the way they’ve always eaten.

Year after year, these people fall into the same old patterns that keep them from making the changes that are required to reach their goals.

But why?

They are trying desperately to change their END RESULTS. However, the RESULTS they get are and will continue to be determined by their ACTIONS, which are always motivated by their mindset.

An unseen enemy is stopping these people because they do not understand that their mindset is the actual cause of their results.

This is a common error that you may also be making—identifying with your present results because they are in harmony with your present mindset.

Stop Doing This To Yourself

Whenever you have failed to reach a goal or New Year’s Resolution, it was primarily due to one thing… what was going on in your mind at the time.

So, next year, practice the following to shift your mindset to align with your goal:

1. Hold an image in your mind of a goal that truly inspires you (if the one you have now, doesn’t excite you, build a new one).

2. Determine the mindset you need to achieve your goal and act as if.

3. Make personal development a priority for you.

4. Change your self-talk and the way you talk to other people. Think and talk about how capable you are and how well things are going in your life.

5. Push past your discomfort and stick to a habit that will move you closer to your goal and the life you want.

6. Learn through repeated experiments that you are stronger and more capable than you think.

7. Listen to people who have already done what you want to do.

With this practice, you will bring more of yourself to the surface. And, over time, you will realize that reaching your goal becomes not merely “possible” or “probable” … it becomes practically inevitable.

To your success,

Bob Proctor