How to Reach Your Hardest Goals

Co-authored by Jessica Elliott, ACC, CEC

Last Updated: February 21, 2023 References Approved

Some of the most worthy goals are also the most difficult to achieve. Major accomplishments can take a tremendous amount of time and effort, and it is easy to get discouraged and give up. If there's a major task you are trying to achieve, you may find yourself at a loss for where to start. Or, maybe you've tried to start already, and have struggled to find the motivation to continue. Either way, some thoughtful planning and new habits can help you to reach your hardest goals.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Developing a Plan of Action

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Assess your level of commitment. Before starting work toward a difficult goal, it's important to ask yourself how committed you are to it. Your level of commitment is an important component of goal success and attainment.^{[1]
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Koestner, R., Lekes, N., Powers, T. A., & Chicoine, E. (2002). Attaining personal goals: Self-concordance plus implementation intentions equals success. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 231–244}
- This commitment can represent a personal contract/commitment to yourself and your goals.
- If you don't feel very committed to achieving a difficult goal, you are much less likely to succeed in doing so. If you don't feel committed, you may want to reconsider this goal.
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Boost your chances of success by creating a solid goal. There are many factors that go into developing and achieving your personal goals. Solid goals are "SMART," meaning they're specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time-bound. If your goal is each of these, you'll be set up for success.^{[2]
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- Vague goals are harder to accomplish because it is less clear what you need to do and when the goal is complete.
- It may be that you have not achieved your hardest goal yet because you haven't defined it clearly enough.
- For example, the goal "be a better person" is perhaps impossible to achieve. It is extremely vague, and no matter how "good" a person you become, you can always be better. In this case, you would want to think about how you would define a good person. What specific thing or things do you need to do to be "better?" Call your mom once a week? Volunteer for charity 10 hours a month? Do a bigger share of the household chores? Be as specific as you can.
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Break it into sub-goals. The next step is to break your challenging goal into smaller parts. These should also be concrete and measurable goals.^{[3]
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Fischhoff, B., Slovic, P., & Lichtenstein, S. (1988). Knowing what you want: Measuring labile values. Decision Making: Descriptive, Normative and Prescriptive Interactions, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 398-421. (Chapter 18)}
- Breaking the goal into smaller parts allows you to create a step-by-step plan of action for achieving the "big" goal.
- It also creates opportunities for you to take note of the progress you've made. This can help you maintain your motivation.
- For example, if your goal is to earn a PhD in physics, think about what you'll need to do to achieve that. You'll need to apply to grad schools. You'll need to be accepted. You'll need to make it through the first semester. You'll need to complete all the required courses. You'll need to pass your qualifying examinations, and so forth.
- If you don't already know enough about your goal to break it down, do some research so you can create achievable sub-goals.^{[4]
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Set a timeline. Once you have developed a set of sub goals, organize them into a reasonable timeline that reflects how long it should take to achieve each one.
- A timeline will help keep you accountable and focused by adding a sense of urgency.^{[5]
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- Remember that if you don't complete a sub-goal on time, it doesn't mean you've failed. It does mean you need to revise your timeline and get back on track.
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Plan for obstacles. Achieving the most difficult goals usually means overcoming many challenging obstacles. Take some time to think about what might stand in the way of achieving your goal.
- Having an idea of the obstacles you might face will help you create a plan for dealing with them.
- For example, if you are training to run a marathon, what could happen that could stand in your way? You might become injured during the training. Or, something might happen in your work or personal life that makes it impossible for you keep up with your training timeline for a while. What will you do if one of these things happens?
- Having a contingency plans for the inevitable bumps in the road will make it easier to pick yourself back up. It will help you keep making progress when obstacles interfere with the plan.
- You probably will not be able to foresee every obstacle. But, trying to think about them in advance can boost your confidence even when you encounter unexpected problems.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Making Your Goal a Reality

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Change your mindset. An important part of achieving hard goals is having the right mindset. It is important to remember that although some things are beyond your control, you make your own destiny.
- Many people believe life is something that happens to them, rather than something they create for themselves. This is called an "external locus of control." It is a mindset that blames chance or other people when things don't work out.^{[6]
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- An external locus of control is a self-defeating mindset. Strive instead for an "internal" locus of control. This is a mindset that says you control your own destiny. This is an empowering mindset that will help you stay motivated to achieve your difficult goal.^{[7]
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- Pay attention to your self-talk. When you find yourself thinking: "there's nothing I can do about this" or "that's just how my life is," ask yourself if that is really true. You may indeed face a difficult situation that you did not create. But if this is the case, think about what you can do to improve it rather than accepting defeat.^{[8]
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- Try to remember that you always have a choice.
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Determine the impact. Another great way to motivate yourself is to try to envision the impact that striving for your goals will have on your life.^{[9]
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Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.}
- Imagining yourself at various stages of the process can boost your motivation by helping you see the benefits of your goals.
- This can be a good time to do some written brainstorming as you consider the positive consequences of pursuing your goal.
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Create the right environment. A challenging goal is more easily achieved if you create an environment that encourages you to stay focused on your goal.^{[10]
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- For example, if you are an alcoholic and trying to give up drinking, an important step will be to get all the alcohol out of your home. You will also probably need to spend less time with people that you would typically drink with. These people may encourage you to slip back into old habits.
- Instead, surround yourself with other people pursuing goals, and check in with them regularly. This can help create more accountability for you. Such people may also have helpful advice or insights, especially if their goals are similar to yours.^{[11]
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Devote the necessary time. At the end of the day, difficult goals are reached through hours (or days, or years) of hard work. Understand that there is no way around this, and put in the necessary time.
- Having a daily routine in which you have scheduled a certain amount of time toward working on your goals can be very helpful. If you want to run a marathon, make sure you have specific hours dedicated to training for the race every day.^{[12]
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- After a while, working on your goal will become a habit. This will ensure steady progress and make working on your goal more or less "automatic."
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Stay motivated (and keep making progress even when you aren't). Because your hardest goal is going to be a major challenge, it will be easy to lose motivation or give up. There are some things you can do to prevent this.
- Use reinforcement. Give yourself rewards (positive reinforcement) when you reach subgoals. Or, allow yourself to skip out on something you don't want to do (negative reinforcement). Buy yourself a new pair of shoes, or skip vacuuming your house once as a way to reward yourself for making progress.
- These little rewards can keep you motivated. They help your mind learn to associate good things with working toward your goal.
- Reinforcement is much more effective than punishing yourself for failure.^{[13]
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- Sometimes, now matter how much reinforcement you use, you just won't be able to get motivated. Maybe it's because you are sick, tired, or something bad happened at work. If you can't stick to the routine sometimes, try to look for other ways to make progress that are easier for you.
- For example, if you just can't force yourself to open your physics book and study for an exam, try a task that's less mentally taxing. Organize your notes, work on a study guide, or watch a science documentary that's relevant to the topic. This way, you still make some kind of progress even when your motivation just isn't there.
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Track your progress. A great way to stay motivated is to regularly keep track of your progress. Use an app, a calendar, or a journal, and make note of the work you've done and the subgoals you've achieved.
- When you feel like you aren't getting anywhere, look at your notes. You'll see how much you've already accomplished and this may help boost your motivation. It can also help you stay accountable to yourself and your plan.^{[14]
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  Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
  Nonprofit organization providing innovative, effective educational resources for educators designed to support student achievement
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- When working on very difficult goals, you might experience a lot of stress or anxiety. A good way to counter this is to note your progress in a journal. Use this journal to write about both what you have done and your feelings about the process. Letting your feelings out in this way can ease your anxiety. This can help you stay focused on the task at hand.^{[15]
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Goal Setting Template

Warnings

Make sure your goals are reasonable. Striving toward an impossible goal only sets yourself up for failure and disappointment.

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