Hard Goals

In nearly all cases where greatness is achieved, it’s the goal that drives motivation and discipline—not the other way around.

Get more examples and tools at hardgoals.com.

People spend way too much time trying to figure out how to trick themselves into implementing mediocre goals.

When creating a mental picture of your goals, it’s important to use a first-person perspective. After all, this is your story, your goal, and no one but you is qualified to animate it. If you’re looking at your newly svelte body, do it as though you’re looking at yourself in the mirror and not the way your spouse or partner or friends will see you.

We value things in the present more than we value things in the future.

And one of the key determinants of whether or not we choose a goal for pursuit is how clearly and vividly we can picture that goal in our minds.

Instead, let’s say that the more you can picture a goal, the more intensely it will be encoded in your brain and the more it will insinuate itself into your life and consciousness, thus making the achievement of that goal a virtual necessity.

In an overwhelming majority of cases, the highest achievers are more motivated, harder working, and focused on tackling more difficult challenges.

So what’s the point of all this? Difficult goals are well within your reach as long as you’ve got the right attitude to carry them through.

A necessary part of making your goal compelling—so motivating, inspiring, and necessary that you’d move heaven and earth to achieve it—is making your goal imaginable. The more you can picture your goal,