What Is the Most Likely Consequence of Setting Unrealistic Goals

Do you have really big goals? So big, that you’re not sure if they are realistic and if it is wise to go after them? You’re not alone. In this post, I offer my insights on what is the most likely consequence of setting unrealistic goals and how having these big, almost unattainable goals can affect your life.

Don’t worry though, I’m not going to crush your dreams!

I want to help you figure out what you should do and which goals you should work for. I know from experience that choosing your life goals and other long-term goals can be very difficult, especially when you are young. There are so many opportunities in the world and you can’t possibly do everything.

Not to mention some goals are so big that it’s hard to know whether it’s a good idea to sacrifice years of your life and your other dreams for it or not. I hope this blog post takes you a little bit closer to knowing what you really want to do with your life.

Is the goal unrealistic for everyone or for you?

One thing to consider is whether the goal in question is unrealistic because it’s so hard for the average person to reach, or is it because it’s hardly attainable to you specifically. If you dream of becoming a singer or getting into Harvard, people might say that you’re being unrealistic. And of course, both of these things are generally speaking difficult to achieve.

But are you someone who is already a good singer and you have a realistic idea of what it would be like to make a living as a singer? Are you an ambitious young woman with a mission who gets top grades? If so, you might have a chance. In that case, these goals might not be all that unrealistic after all.

Then again, if you dream of becoming a famous Hollywood actor, but you have practically no acting experience and you’re more interested in the idea of walking down the red carpet and having a lot of money, it’s probably not a realistic dream.

In other words, you have to know why the goal is unrealistic. Is it because it’s so incredibly hard that pretty much no one can do it? Or is it because you have very little potential in regards to that specific goal?

What are all the possible consequences?

Next, you want to think about all the possible consequences of going after your goal. When you set goals, you want to know what you’re getting yourself into and not have unrealistic expectations or take unnecessary risks.

The two obvious possible outcomes of setting your big goal are that you either reach it or you don’t. But there’s more to it than that. First of all, you have to have very specific goals to even know what counts as having reached them. Secondly, it’s possible that you only get halfway there (which isn’t necessarily all bad) and that working towards your goal has unexpected effects on your life.

Perhaps you find new friends, move to a new city, get surprising career opportunities, or learn skills you thought you’d never learn. Or maybe something bad happens: you lose some of your old friends or you lose money.

While everything else might be uncertain, you can be sure that if you make big changes in your life, unexpected things will happen. It’s impossible to predict everything.

Unrealistic goals can have both positive and negative effects on your life. Some of the positive effects include:

1. Being highly motivated because you know that reaching a big goal would change your life tremendously
2. Getting much further than you thought
3. Learning how to reach other, smaller goals
4. New doors being opened
5. Learning new, useful skills and getting new experiences

Of course, it’s also possible that things don’t go as planned. Some negative outcomes of unrealistic goals include:

1. Losing motivation fast because the goal is so hard to achieve
2. Giving up altogether
3. Having to work extremely hard because the competition is so fierce
4. Not being able to try to reach other big goals
5. Having to make sacrifices because you can’t commit to everything
6. If expectations are very high, reaching the goal could be a letdown

It can also be hard to make much progress if you don’t know what exactly is your goal or you’re not sure how you should go about working on it. It’s always a good thing to set as clear goals as possible and to make an action plan that tells you what you should do and when. It’s very hard to reach vague goals, no matter how motivated you feel.

Reaching a goal is not just about what is realistic

In goal setting, many things can either make or break whether you succeed or not. First of all, you have to really want it. If you have a goal of starting a new, successful company simply because you think it would be nice and some extra money would be welcome, you might not be motivated enough to put in the work. So you must always ask yourself if you really even want to do the work and actually reach that goal.

Secondly, you need to be clear about how much time, effort, and money you are willing to commit to your goal. Are you willing to spend your evenings and weekends working on it? What sacrifices are you willing to make?

One mistake people often make with their goals, is that they try something that doesn’t work, and then instead of admitting to themselves that this didn’t work and they must try something else, they just keep doing the same thing over and over again. You must be self-aware, know your flaws and be willing to fix them.

Really big goals are often hard to achieve because it’s so hard to know how you can achieve them. You must do your best to understand your goal and do what it takes to get forward. Not everything is directly related to your end goal. You might need to learn some soft skills or earn extra money.

Often you also have to take chances and be willing to tolerate risks, if you want to achieve something big. It can be scary, but the outcome can be very much worth it.

Having intrinsic motivation makes the goal more realistic

It’s good to know whether you have intrinsic or extrinsic motivation. If you are extrinsically motivated, you want to do something simply because it gives you something else, like approval.

If on the other you are intrinsically motivated, that means that you do something simply because you want to do it.

What does this have to do with goal setting? Well, if you enjoy doing the activity even if you don’t think that it will lead to anything else, it’s much easier to stay motivated. For example, if you enjoy writing, you might become an author mainly just because you like to write.

But if you dream of being an author although you don’t enjoy writing all that much, you are of course less likely to reach that goal. It’s also much better for your mental health to set goals that you actually enjoy working on. Those are the right goals for you.

Perhaps your goal only seems unrealistic

Quite often “unrealistic goals” aren’t even all that unrealistic. It’s just that the competition seems to be high because so many people dream of the same thing.

I used to study filmmaking. And we all know how hard it is to get a job in that field. But what was astonishing, was that almost none of my classmates seemed to be all that serious about actually doing the work and finding opportunities that would give them the experience they needed. And many of the people working in the field didn’t seem particularly passionate either.

Just imagine how much further someone who truly wants to make films and become better and better could get.

The same thing applies to other common dreams, like getting into law school or making a lot of money. While these kinds of goals aren’t necessarily easy to achieve, they might not be as unrealistic as you think, if you are willing to put in the effort.

What is the most likely consequence of setting unrealistic goals

As you can see, there are many factors that determine what will happen and whether you reach your goal or not. But the main question of this article is still unanswered. What is the most likely consequence of setting unrealistic goals?

The most likely consequence (and the most common) is that you will give up and not reach the goal.

It’s simply because difficult goals are often so hard to reach that people feel it’s not worth it to do the work and give up other things in life just for the small chance of maybe reaching the goal one day.

That being said, unrealistic goals aren’t impossible. If you do all the things I mentioned you need to take into account, you might succeed. The best way to find out whether you can reach that goal or not is to try and see what happens.

What you should do with your seemingly unrealistic goals

Now you might be wondering what you should do with your more or less unrealistic goals. Should you give up? Or should you do your best to make those goals as realistic as possible?

If you don’t want to do the work or you are not even sure if you really want to reach this goal, it might be wise to choose a different goal. That’s not a bad thing.

If you on the other hand want to go all in on your goal, you need a good plan and then take action.

You have to make sure that you have a clear, measurable goal that you truly want to achieve. You have to know what your long-term goals are and then you have to break them into short-term goals that you can actually work on. It’s important that you know how to set smart goals so that you can get better results.

You must learn to be productive, be able to step out of your comfort zone, and be good at time management. You need to constantly keep learning more so that you’ll gain a better understanding of what you are working on and how you can get where you want to be.

There are many different types of goals, but you always have to know what you are doing, be very clear, work hard, and tolerate shortcomings.

And always keep in mind, that no matter how difficult your goal is, it’s still not impossible. Do you think all those successful business owners or Hollywood actors thought that it’s probably not even worth trying? No! They went for it because they wanted to. And they succeeded. So you can, too.

Conclusion

It’s in human nature to want to do well in life. You have every right to have big, even unrealistic, dreams and go after them. Just be serious about your goals. You know that most people don’t achieve their New Year’s resolutions, but it’s just because most people don’t really even try.

You need to try harder for your personal goals, set clear objectives for yourself, decide what you will do with any conflicting goals you might have, and put in the work. It can feel very hard, but it will be worth it. One day you will have a positive outcome. Maybe even in the near future.

And even if you have a long way to go, remember that the first step is always to take action. So go make plans, write some to-do lists, and find ways to get forward, even if it sometimes feels extremely difficult. Your future self will thank you.

Last but not least, I’d love to hear what your biggest goals in life are and what you think makes them hard to achieve. Comment down below if you want to share your plans with me!

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Read my post about why prioritization is crucial for your goals next!