Why You Can’t Stick To Your Goals — And How To Fix It

You set a goal.

You’re buzzing with energy. You say, Right, this is it. New me. Game on.

Three days later? It’s already gone a bit sideways.

You skip a day, tell yourself you’ll get back on track tomorrow… then suddenly a week’s gone by and you’ve quietly dropped the whole thing. Now that voice in your head is piping up: What’s the point? You always give up.

If that rings a bell, this one’s for you.

🎧 Prefer to listen instead? You can play the full episode right here:

Click here to open this episode on your preferred podcast player.

Let’s Clear One Thing Up

You don’t have a motivation problem.

You don’t lack willpower. You’re not flaky. And you’re definitely not lazy. You’re trying to do something different with a brain that’s hard-wired to keep everything the same.

That brain of yours is built for survival, not change. So when you try to do something new — even something positive — your brain gets twitchy. It doesn’t care that your goal is healthy or sensible or good for you in the long run. It just thinks, This is unfamiliar. I don’t like it.

And when that discomfort kicks in, your brain will do whatever it can to drag you back into your comfort zone — even if that zone isn’t working for you anymore.

The Trap Most People Fall Into

Here’s where it gets messy.

You start with this all-or-nothing plan. Early mornings, gym, journalling, water bottle, clean eating, meditation — the full wellness starter pack. You last a couple of days, then real life barges in. Schoolwork. Stress. Sleep problems. Family rows. Hormones.

Suddenly it’s all too much, and because you’ve gone all-in, it feels like you’ve completely failed.

But you haven’t. You just didn’t build something that could hold up when things got difficult.

That’s where most goal-setting falls apart — not in the planning, but in how we deal with the inevitable wobble.

So What Actually Works?

Here’s the bit that doesn’t sound glamorous — but it works.

Start small. And I mean properly small. Almost laughably small.

One sentence in a notebook. Five minutes of movement. Reading a single page. Shrinking your goal to the point where it feels too easy to mess up.

Why? Because that’s how you stay under the radar of that nervous, change-resistant brain of yours. It doesn’t feel like a threat. It feels manageable. And over time, that creates something far more powerful than motivation: trust.

Every time you do something small — and stick to it — you’re teaching your brain that it’s safe to try. That you don’t have to panic or shut down just because something’s new.

Know Your Why

This bit matters.

If your goal starts with “because I should...”, ditch it. Straight away.

You’re not here to impress anyone. And goals built on guilt or pressure from others never stick — they just wear you down.

So ask yourself:

What do I actually want from this?

What would feel different in my life if I saw it through?

Am I doing this for me, or because I think I’m supposed to?

When you find your reason — your real one — write it down. Make it visible. Stick it somewhere you’ll see it when you’re having a rough day. Because those days will come, and your “why” is what’ll get you through them.

Expect the Wobble

Here’s the truth no one likes to say: You will slip up.

You’ll have off days. You’ll miss a session. You’ll fall back into old habits. That’s not failure. That’s just life.

The only thing that matters is what you do next.

People who make real changes don’t power through on brute strength. They plan for the wobble. They know it’s coming, and they’ve already decided how they’ll respond.

A reset doesn’t mean starting from scratch. It means picking yourself up without the drama, without the self-punishment, and without waiting for Monday to roll round.

It could be as simple as:

Doing a lighter version of your goal tomorrow

Saying “I don’t skip two days in a row”

Texting someone to say “I’m jumping back in”

Whatever works for you, decide it now — before the wobble hits. That way, you’re recovering, not scrambling.

Let’s Keep It Simple

If you’re tired of watching your goals collapse the minute things get hard, here’s your new plan:

1. Pick one goal that actually means something to you

2. Shrink it right down — until it feels like there’s no way you could fail it

3. Get clear on your “why” — and keep it somewhere you’ll see it every day

4. Set your bounce-back rule — a simple way to reset without guilt

And finally, ask yourself this:

What would change if your goal wasn’t to be perfect — but just to keep going, no matter what?

That’s the shift. That’s what we’re aiming for.

Want a quick version of this to keep in your notes or on your phone? There’s a written cheat sheet linked in the episode description. It’s simple, no-fluff, and made to help you reset when motivation disappears.

And if this post made you think of someone else who might need to hear it? Don’t keep it to yourself. Share it. You never know what might shift for them because of one honest message.

Next week?

we’re talking fear. Not the obvious kind, but the sneaky stuff: perfectionism, avoidance, that voice that always says “not yet.” We’ll look at how fear wears different masks — and how to spot it before it runs the show.

Until then — keep going.