Reasons Or Excuses: What’s Keeping You From Accomplishing Your Goals?

If all goes as planned, 15 days after his resignation as CEO of Amazon
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, Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, and a mystery bidder who pledged $28 million will be aboard the first crewed flight of the New Shepherd rocket ship developed by the space exploration company, Blue Origins. That’s a bold move and not without significant risk for the world’s wealthiest man, founder of Amazon and Blue Origins, and owner of The Washington Post.

“Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space,” Bezos wrote. “On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend.”

While you might think, “Sure, I’d go too, if money was no object.” Would you really? Would you put it all on the line for an 11-minute suborbital spaceflight? Or would that inner voice kick in–the one that wants you to remain safe in your comfort zone here on planet Earth?

Space travel aside, living life boldly can be harder than we think. That’s because trying something new means you might feel unsure of yourself at first, which can feel foreign to even the most confident among us. What if you embarrass yourself? What if you fail?

New experiences can make us feel physically, mentally and emotionally vulnerable. Think about some of the things you’ve experienced over the years that have taken you out of your comfort zone. Maybe you climbed a 14er, travelled to an exotic or remote location where you didn’t speak the language, went skydiving, ran a marathon, changed careers or started your own business. Whether these experiences ultimately resulted in success or failure, chances are, they made an indelible mark on your life and changed you in some way. Maybe they emboldened you to take other risks, or simply helped to increase your skills, confidence or sense of adventure.

Your experiences–positive or negative–form the fabric of your life story. Now think about what that tapestry would look like if you had passed on some of these experiences. Would it be less satisfying, rich or colorful? Would it lack meaning or purpose?

Often, societal norms, a sense of security and real or perceived obligations can hold people back from accomplishing things that would bring a greater sense of purpose and meaning to their lives. As a result, you can end up in a rut, allowing fear, complacency or other people’s agendas to a supplant your own. What you want to avoid is finding yourself toward the end of your life with regrets about what you didn’t do or experience. You’ve probably heard the saying about the difference between a rut and a grave: One is six inches deep, while the other is six feet deep. There’s a lot of truth to that.

If you feel like you’re in a rut, or just hesitant about moving forward with certain goals or adventures on your bucket list, ask yourself the following questions:

What would your younger self do?

What adventures or experiences do you want to try?

What will give your life maximum meaning and purpose?

Then put a plan in place to pursue your goals. If you simply commit to something vague like “I’ll do it next year,” more likely than not, next year will roll around and you’ll find yourself in the same spot.

Several years ago, one of my clients, an avid runner, committed to running a 5K in all 50 states with his two grown sons. By the time the pandemic hit, they had conquered 28 states. Instead of giving up, they used last year to continue training and to put a gameplan together for the next four years. He said that having “stakeholders” in his two sons has kept him accountable and on track toward completing his end goal.

Interestingly, I’ve found that a lack of money is seldom the reason people don’t follow their dreams. Often, business owners and executives miss out on time with family and friends because they feel they’re indispensable to the organizations they’ve built. (Take it from me, you’re not.) In other cases, people simply don’t realize that they have the financial means to accomplish their goals without derailing their lifestyles today or in retirement, until someone is able to demonstrate that in black and white for them. It’s also easy for people to get stuck on the proverbial hamster wheel, building more and more wealth until they no longer know how to slow down or why they’re amassing all that wealth in the first place.

While money can buy lots of things, it’s not the things that provide meaning and purpose in life. Only people and experiences and the connections we make throughout our lives can accomplish that. That’s why we define True Wealth^TM as “all that money can’t buy, and death can’t take away.”

After more than 35 years advising, coaching and mentoring clients and other advisors, I have found that people often just need someone to remind them to make time for the experiences that will define their lives and legacies. That’s also been one of the most fulfilling aspects of my role as a wealth advisor and CEO.

If a lack of planning is holding you back from achieving what you set out to accomplish in life, whether it’s small goals or life-altering experiences, commit to changing that dynamic today. If you need help staying on track, plan to meet with an independent wealth advisor. Your advisor can help you map out your goals and develop a plan customized around your objectives and timeframe that’s flexible enough to change as your aspirations or circumstances change.

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