This is the last blog post in our Goals Series with Pádraic O’Maille (motivational speaker and business coach). We’ve already talked about:

  1. Goal-setting
  2. Goal-achieving
  3. Keeping yourself and your team accountable

This time, we’re going to focus on the common pitfalls you might run into while trying to achieve them.

1. Getting distracted from your goals

If you lose sight of your goals, you’ll forget them and you won’t keep working to achieve them.

  • The issue

There are countless distractions in the workplace that can decrease productivity. Day-to-day life itself is just distracting. We can get caught up in menial processes like thinking about lunch, or personal circumstances such as family.

  • The solution

To avoid getting sidetracked by these things, you need a constant reminder of the goals that you’re trying to achieve. Write them down and ensure that wherever you have it down is somewhere visible to you everyday. Maybe it’s a whiteboard by your desk, your daily planner, or a pop-up in your computer. Just keep reminding yourself of what you’re trying to achieve!

Watch the 90-second clip below to see how Pádraic avoids distractions.

2. Aiming too high and falling short

Overshooting your goals and aiming to take over the world immediately is a very common pitfall – don’t let it be yours. Reach for the stars, but not right away!

  • The issue

Aiming too high, then failing to hit that target, creates an expectation of failure and excuses it when it happens. You and your team’s motivation will decrease.

  • The solution

For now, think about what’s realistic. Build your foundation so that you can grab at the high-hanging fruit later.

  • Think in terms of this year. What can your business realistically achieve in that time?
  • Once you have those base goals, break them down further into daily, weekly and monthly tasks that you’ll constantly be working on. This will help you reach that realistic overarching goal!

Set yourself up for success rather than failure! Which leads us to our next pitfall…

3. Having too many goals

In the same way as picking goals that aren’t too big, you need to also make sure there aren’t too many.

  • The issue

You’ll spread yourself too thin if you try to achieve too much right away. You can only focus your attention on a few things at a time. If you choose too many, you’ll end up partly achieving multiple things, rather than completing any of them.

  • The solution

What you need to do is focus on two or three big goals, and then break them down. If you’re finding it difficult to narrow them down, use these methods:

  • Create a goals timeline
  • Align the goals with your business’s vision
  • Identify a “foundation stone” goal (watch the 3-minute clip below for Pádraic describing this one!)

Summary

With these tips and advice, you can start your own success story! It doesn’t happen overnight – you need to be determined and keep yourself on track every day. But it is possible. Remember:

  1. Don’t get distracted from your goals
  2. Pick realistic goals
  3. Don’t pick too many goals

Let us know – what are your best tips for reaching your goals and targets? Comment below if you have something we missed!

This is the last of our series with Pádraic O’Maille. He was a fantastic guest to chat to and we can’t thank him enough! Next in line is Enda Cannon of the Local Enterprise Office Roscommon. We’ll be talking all things funding and support-wise for businesses in Ireland. Keep an eye out for when that goes live!