What is a vanity goal and why is it so devastating to my life and business?  Simply put, a vanity goal is a superficial desire disguised as an internal necessity in order for you to achieve success.  Such goals begin with a seemingly attainable time frame for accomplishment, but soon inevitably expand beyond its intended scope and drains the life out of your true goals, your passion, and your success.

The 2 most devastating vanity goals are the most commonly recited by thousands of media advertisements and lead to the most failure in business and frustration in life than any other.  Avoiding these as goals will nearly guarantee your business success and personal happiness.

These vanity goals are “making money” and “weight loss“.

Surprised?  As an internet marketing coach and a fitness coach, I require all my clients to write down 3 major goals.  At first, I give them no guidance to see the first things that come to the forefront.  In business, it’s “make more money”.  In fitness, it’s “lose more weight”.  Both of these goals are so superficial that they give a person a rush of confidence and motivation until their first set back, their first disappointment.

Once that first disappointment happens, they store the exercise equipment away forever and they quit their home-based business opportunity, even though given enough time with proper goal setting, they would have seen success in both.  This cannot be understated:  “More people quit when they haven’t failed than quit when they have failed.” Failure is not the force behind quitting, but fear of failure. A business breaking even for its first 3 months is not a failure, but the business owner feels a real fear because they based their success solely on making money.  A person whose weight fluctuates even just a few pounds up and down for 2 months will quit their routine because they do not see progress in their mind, not appreciating the other fitness and health benefits of their program.

I once was asked by a 54-year-old 6ft 3in fitness client how best to lose weight so he could start running.  He could only run a single lap around a track (a mile is 4 laps).  I told him to forget about his weight loss and focus on a 6-9 month fitness goal he wanted to achieve.  A little hesitant, he always wanted to run an 8-minute mile.  At that time, he was well over 11 minutes.  With an open mind, he implemented my coaching plan laid out on a 9 month calendar.  Within just 3 short months, I timed him at 8:24.  He broke the 8-minute mile mark by his 5th month.  He was very excited to update me on his progress every week, and you know, we never did discuss his weight, because it was not important.  You can guess how much thinner he was, though.

Your business “income”, just like your body “weight”, will adjust to the level of your effort to achieve your “real goals”. Never let vanity goals come between you and your success.  Plan your business goals the same as your fitness goals, with short 6-9 month attainable milestones, that continuously motivate you to achieve more.