Episode 108: How to Succeed in 2025 with Goal Setting and Contingency Plans
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88 percent of people abandon their goals. So you're in the majority if you give up, but the point is to not really give up. It's just to acknowledge the setback and then move on with your plan. Missing your workout doesn't mean you failed. It just means you need to readjust your approach. Step one is to define the worst-case scenario.
You might feel guilty or frustrated because you aren't keeping in alignment with a promise you set for yourself. You might hate pictures of yourself or your clothes don't fit. That impacts your confidence in setting future goals outside of this category of life. That's why people don't even…
You're listening to Prospecting on Purpose, where we discuss all things, prospecting sales, business, and mindset. I'm your host, Sara Murray, a sales champion. Who's here to show you that you can be a shark in business and still lead with intentionality and authenticity tune in each week. As we dive into methods to connect with clients, communicate with confidence, and close the deal. Welcome back to Prospecting on Purpose.
This is the first solo episode of season three and it is airing the last week of January. And you know what else happens the last week of January? People abandon their New Year's resolutions. Studies show that 88 percent of people fail their resolutions within the first two weeks. So if you're still trucking on January 27th, kudos to you.
You are in the extreme minority. So for today's episode, I thought it'd be very timely to share just one big tip. That's helped me with goal setting and it's been proven to help people achieve their goals and it's probably not what you think. So, when you're looking at your resolution or any goal or objective that you're striving for, the biggest tip I can share with you is that it's crucial to anticipate failure and plan on what you're going to do if you veer from your goals.
So that's the tip. Plan to fail. And I will use an example for us as we break this down a little bit. So I'm going to use a very common example. Let's assume you've set a specific objective. You already know enough about goal planning to be specific in your goals. So instead of saying get healthier or lose weight, you've established that you are going to lose 10 pounds by July 1st and you're going to do this by working out 30 minutes for three days a week and walking 10, 000 steps a day. Right? Very common. You've got your metrics. You've got your end date. But what most people fail to do as part of their goal setting is to create a contingency plan if you fail.
Or let's say you have to go on a work trip for a week and you don't exercise at all. You've kind of crushed your momentum. Well, why bother getting back in the routine? I already stopped all my progress. So here's how you can create a plan to anticipate failure.
And step one is to define the worst-case scenario. So the worst case scenario in this example is that you've completely abandoned your exercise routine and you're not walking at all. You're not moving your body. You've just given up on the exercise. So, Obviously, on top of not exercising, you might feel guilty or frustrated because you aren't keeping in alignment with a promise you said to yourself. You might hate pictures of yourself or your clothes don't fit.
You know, all of these things add up to a sense of failure, and that impacts your confidence in setting future goals outside of this category of life, you know, pings other categories when we let ourselves down. That's why it's so hard sometimes. That's why people don't even start. So if you kind of think about the worst-case scenario, that definitely helps you motivate yourself to to avoid it. But also it lets you create a plan.
So now that you have an idea of what could happen, and you're anticipating this, you can create a response plan if you get off of track. So this way, if a setback happens, the first thing I want you to do is to just acknowledge the setback without judgment. Like, if you miss multiple workouts, or you stop entirely, remind yourself that setbacks are normal.
Self-compassion is really the key to avoiding any type of downward spiral and remind yourself that 88 percent of people abandon their goals. So, you're in the majority if you give up, but the point is to not really give up. It's just to acknowledge the setback and then move on with your plan.
So the example response here is missing your workout doesn't mean you failed. It just means you need to readjust your approach. This is part of the contingency plan. Giving yourself the freedom and flexibility to change it and adjust it as needed. So the next step is I want you to reassess and adjust your goal.
You want to analyze why the goal was abandoned. Was it too ambitious? Did life circumstances get in the way? Use this reflection to modify your goal into something more achievable. So in the example, you had a business trip, you didn't get to exercise. Maybe for your next work trip, you already know you're not going to get your workout in. So maybe you schedule your exercise the day before and the day you get back from your trip. And then you just plan on not working out during the business trip because the time is too tight. Another adjustment might be, hey, you know what the three days a week and the 10, 000 steps are a little too much. Maybe you remove an element of it. Maybe you just ditch the step count and exercise three days a week or ditch the exercise for now and just hit your step count and then you can start to layer on. But in that worst-case scenario, you can build flexibility in your goal by preparing for disruptions. And that's really where the contingency plan concept comes in.
So maybe if part of the goal is you were too busy to do this workout, can you commit to five minutes of stretching or walking instead? If I can't make it to the gym, I'll do a 10-minute lap around the hotel, or I'll take the stairs down to my rental car or the lobby instead of the elevator.
This is really where, when you have a plan, and you know you have a plan, then if a setback happens, it reduces the feeling of anxiety about failing because you know you have a plan. This also builds resilience because if you're anticipating failure, then you're reminding yourself that setbacks are a part of growth and this mindset shift really fosters resilience and encourages persistence, which are both key attributes in achieving our goals.
The other thing I really like about planning to fail is that it gives us flexibility. You know, I think a lot of us get really rigid and it's very black or white, but if we have a flexible plan, it allows us to adapt without feeling like we failed entirely. And this is really what keeps the motivation alive even when progress is a lot slower than you want, or you have a setback.
Winston Churchill is quoted as saying, ‘Perfection is the enemy of progress.” So if you slip, you can still be moving forward. The only thing that's going to prevent you from achieving your goals is inaction.
And with those 88 percent of people who just ditched their plan, they're not moving forward and they're, they're stuck in inaction. So if you've abandoned your resolutions already, do not worry. Just take a minute to reflect, readjust, and recommit to a plan that includes handling setbacks.
Remember success and progress is not linear. There's a lot of ups and downs along the way. It's all about learning and growing through every challenge and doing your best to not give up. So I want to cheer you a cheers is all for achieving our goals in 2025, whether they're personal or professional, and making this year, a year of joy and expansion.
I am so happy to have you on the show. so much for tuning in and I'll see you next week.
Thank you so much for listening to the Prospecting on Purpose podcast. If you loved what you heard today, subscribe to the podcast and please rate and leave a review. For more info on me, or if you'd like to work together, feel free to go to my website, saramurray.com. On social media, I'm usually hanging out at Sara Murray sales. Thanks again for joining me and I'll see you next time.
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