Why do I fail at achieving personal goals?

Disclaimer: I don't have the answer to this hefty post title, but Jacob Kaplan-Moss just woke me up to think about life. So, let's blog about it.

I don't know Jacob, but wow... this is an excellent and very uncomfortable question.

At work, I'm structured, focused and transparent. I have processes and guardrails in place to hit my targets. I reflect, write brag documents, and plan ahead. I hold myself accountable if I don't deliver. Being good at my job is important to me. Being a good colleague is important to me. And somehow, I succeed at all this (most of the time).

But looking into my private life, I've been hunting the same goals for years. Of course, my todo list includes the personal classics: "Eat healthier!", "Meditate!", "Reflect!", "Be kind and calm!". And these items are okay because we all struggle with them, right?

However, the list also includes quick tasks like filing taxes or calling loved family members and friends; I can ignore these for months.

I'd never treat a work task this way, but it's acceptable to ignore the private tasks. For whatever reason, it's fine to deprioritize the things that should matter most. Isn't this weird? Am I weird?

I've no idea why it's like it is or how I can fix my divided personality (does it even need fixing?), but Jacob's question hits home big time this early morning...