1. You don’t talk about them.
2. When someone asks how your goals are going you don’t know what to say.
3. You are not actively doing anything about them.
4. There is little or no progress towards them.
5. You are not excited by them.
6. You wish you had other, “more attainable” goals.
7. You get defensive when someone challenges your progress.
8. You feel guilty about not reaching them.
9. You don’t have the support you need to achieve them.
10. Everything and everyone else is more important.
11. They are nebulous.
12. You spend more time doing other things.
13. You are always making excuses.
14. They can sit languishing for weeks or months.
15. You have a hard time articulating them.
16. You would rather talk about something else.
17. They are not written anywhere.
18. It requires a lot of energy to get moving on them.
19. They depress you.
20. You have lost the confidence that you can achieve them.
What does it look like when goals are not stale? Was anyone not clear about runner Allyson Felix’s goal to win the 200m Olympic gold? Despite the fact that she was not the favorite and had failed twice to meet her goal she was unambiguous about her goal for gold. It’s not luck that she got the gold, but we know that just as easily she could have missed it and would have probably been back on the track training for the next Olympics. Shouldn’t our goals be just as vibrant and full of energy?
