Avoid these 2 Epic Failures

Avoid these 2 Epic Failures
 1. Big Goal over Small Time
This is when you set a massive goal that is mostly unachievable in the given time. Two examples to consider:
Losing 70 pounds in 2 months—every fitness and nutrition professional will tell you that 2-3 pounds per week is realistic and safe for weight loss. Doing the math shows that 2 months equals 8 weeks or approximately 16 to 24 pounds of realistic weight loss, not 70 pounds.

Pay off your credit card debt as your "New Year's Resolution"—If you're the average American, you may have $15,366 (source: nerdwallet.com) owing on a credit card. To pay that off in 52 weeks equals a payment of $296 per week (not including interest). Chances are if you have an extra $1,200 bucks a month sitting around, you wouldn't have as big of a credit card balance. This is not good math for a debt-reduction strategy.

You've been told the clichés like dream big, go big or go home, shoot for the stars, etc. These are great for instant motivation. But the main problem is that the goal is not matched to the correct amount of time to get it done.
2. Small Goal over Big Time
This epic failure happens when you "pad" the goal with time such as:

Lose 10 pounds before an upcoming wedding or family event. This is a reasonable goal for you. But not if the event is 6 months away. You have too much time. What normally happens is that you are enticed to slack off until about month 5 because you "have lots of time left to get serious".

What if you have $1,700 of credit card debt to pay off and you give yourself a whole year to do this? I know guys who do this fully knowing that every year they get a bonus from work that will "cover the debt". Guess what often happens to them? The bonus comes and goes and the debt stays.

All the play-it-safe folks play in this sandbox.

You and I are both guilty of setting a tiny goal that we know we can achieve. Even worse, we give ourselves 3 or 4 times longer than we need to get the goal done. But then we are surprised that the goal got away from us and voila… epic goal failure.

Sometimes in life you need to just go for it.