We cannot achieve the life we dream of without setting specific and achievable goals to take us there. Goal setting essentially creates a ladder to success as it helps us understand what we need to do to reach our biggest desires.
However, setting goals is the easy part. If you’re like most people, you’ve probably set an intention, feeling inspired and motivated, yet just a few weeks later, it is totally forgotten. This is what happens when you don’t set goals correctly. If your plans are not clear, specific, measurable, and realistic, then you’re just setting yourself up for failure.
We recommend using the SMART goal setting method when creating your intentions. This strategy will help you understand the actions you need to take to achieve the goal, reducing procrastination and feelings of overwhelm.
Encouragement is always helpful whether you’re creating new goals or working towards ones you have already set. Reading goals quotes will motivate you to keep going and remind you of what you are working towards. Check out this list of sayings about goals for an instant boost.
1. “A good goal is like a strenuous exercise – it makes you stretch.” – Mary Kay Ash
2. “Know what you want to do, hold the thought firmly, and do every day what should be done, and every sunset will see you that much nearer to your goal.” — Elbert Hubbard
3. “But if the vision is strong enough, and your goals are steady, and you believe, pretty soon you bring other people with you.” – Mike Rounds
4. “At the end of the day, the goals are simple: safety and security.” – Jodi Rell
5. “Remember, you and you alone are responsible for maintaining your energy. Give up blaming, complaining and excuse making, and keep taking action in the direction of your goals – however mundane or lofty they may be.” – Jack Canfield
6. “I would encourage you to set really high goals. Set goals that, when you set them, you think they’re impossible. But then every day you can work towards them, and anything is possible, so keep working hard and follow your dreams.” – Katie Ledecky
7. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” – Zig Ziglar
8. “Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.” ― Louisa May Alcott
9. “When I was a young player, I never dreamed of scoring five goals in a game – and in nine minutes is something else. And when it happened, it was incredible that there could ever be anything like that in the history of the game. It took me a couple of days to realise what I’d done.” – Robert Lewandowski
10. “Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you.” ― Shannon Alder
11. “You never know what’s around the corner. It could be everything. Or it could be nothing. You keep putting one foot in front of the other, and then one day you look back, and you’ve climbed a mountain.” – Tom Hiddleston
12. “Intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you.” – Andy Andrews
13. “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” — Stephen A. Brennan
14. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” — Jimmy Dean
15. “If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing.” ― Coco Chanel
16. “Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open.” — Pauline Kael
17. “A guy wants a classy girl who is smart and has goals – someone that he wouldn’t be afraid to bring home to his parents.” – Victoria Justice
18. “Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless.” – Tim Blixseth
19. “You need to have unbound enthusiasm for what you’re building. Energy is contagious, so your team and everyone you interact with feels it.” — Tyler Haney
20. “There are always periodic opportunities to give up, while every single moment is an opportunity to persevere.” ― Dean F. Wilson
21. “If you’re bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals.” – Lou Holtz
22. “You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things — to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated to reach challenging goals.” — Edmund Hillary
23. “Everybody has goals, aspirations or whatever, and everybody has been at a point in their life where nobody believed in them.” – Eminem
24. “This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.” – Mark Zuckerberg
25. “It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.” – Benjamin Elijah Mays
26. “While you’ll feel compelled to charge forward it’s often a gentle step back that will reveal to you where you and what you truly seek.” ― Rasheed Ogunlaru
27. “When you stop living your life based on what others think of you real life begins. At that moment, you will finally see the door of self acceptance opened.” ― Shannon L. Alder
28. “In between goals is a thing called life, that has to be lived and enjoyed.” – Sid Caesar
29. “Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off! But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.” – Amelia Earhart
30. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” — Marie Curie
31. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” — Marie Curie
32. “I am here for a purpose, and that purpose is to grow into a mountain, not to shrink to a grain of sand. Henceforth will I apply all my efforts to become the highest mountain of all, and I will strain my potential until it cries for mercy.” – Og Mandino
33. “Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself.” – Denis Waitley
34. “When you know what you want and you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it.” — Jim Rohn
35. “There are two things to aim at in life; first, to get what you want, and after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind has achieved the second.” – Logan Pearsall Smith
36. “People work better when they know what the goal is and why. It is important that people look forward to coming to work in the morning and enjoy working.” – Elon Musk
37. “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” – Tina Fey
38. “I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down, and I will not let myself down.” ― Mia Hamm
39. “The great glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live with purpose.” – Michel de Montaigne
40. “I’ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down.” – Mia Hamm
41. “Obstacles can’t stop you. Problems can’t stop you. Most of all, other people can’t stop you. Only you can stop you.” — Jeffrey Gitomer
42. “Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs.” — Mario Andretti
43. “If life didn’t give you at least one person not wanting you to succeed then half of us would lose are motivation to climb that cliff, in order to prove them wrong.” ― Shannon Alder
44. “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” – Earl Nightingale
45. “Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.” – Viktor E. Frankl
46. “I’m very excited about my new agreement with the Heat. This contract allows me to address all of my family’s long-term financial goals while allowing the Heat the ability to acquire those players that we need to win a championship.” – Shaquille O’Neal
47. “By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands — your own.” — Mark Victor Hansen
48. “Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.” – George Whitefield
49. “Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.” — Robert G. Allen
50. “Chaos is more freedom; in fact, total freedom. But no meaning. I want to be free to act, and I also want my actions to mean something.” ― Audrey Niffenegger
The hardest part of achieving goals is staying motivated and focused. However, regularly reading goals quotes like this will significantly help you stay on track. So why not print off this list and keep it on your desk? Alternatively, turn your favorite sayings into inspirational posters for multiple reminders and prompts every day.
Finally, be sure to reward yourself each time you reach a milestone or complete a goal. Incentives will give you a tremendous driving force to keep your plan the central focus of your day.
