Are your goals slipping by because you don’t have the time? Time to exercise, spend more time with your family, or work on an important business development project?
Did you know that changing one word could change your outcome?
Luis Abreu, Jordan Etkin, and Holly Howe found a correlation between word choice and the ability to overcome goal failure in their 2025 research study. Our choice of language when addressing missed goals influences how much control we believe we have to influence future outcomes.
When you don’t do something in relation to a goal, and you tell yourself, “I didn’t have time,” that you’re less likely to try again. What happened is perceived as being outside of your control.
But one simple word switch to, “I didn’t make time,” was associated with being 12 percentage points more likely that you’ll accomplish a real-world goal within a week.
Using the word “make” gives you a greater sense of control and personal agency, including the ability to choose differently in the future.
In my own life and with my coaching clients, I’m constantly looking for opportunities to make time for what matters most.
It may be true that right now you don’t have time to accomplish your goal. But it’s also true that you could make decisions that free you to make time for it in the future.
About Real Life E
Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time management coach and best-selling author who empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished. She helps people struggling with new levels of responsibility after receiving a promotion or becoming a parent, who aren’t meeting expectations at work, or who need better work-life balance to overcome burnout.
Elizabeth was named one of the World’s Top 30 Time Management Professionals by Global Gurus and is a member of Forbes Coaches Council. McGraw Hill published her first book The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment: How to Achieve More Success with Less Stress. Harvard Business Review published her second book How to Invest Your Time Like Money. Elizabeth offers a Christian time management approach through her third book Divine Time Management, published by FaithWords. Elizabeth has written time management articles for Harvard Business Review and Fast Company and has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, and Fox. Find out more at www.RealLifeE.com
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