Hard Goals

Are these superachievers just more motivated? Or are they more disciplined? The answer to both questions is yes, but not in the ways you might think. What these people have—what anyone who’s ever tasted greatness has—is HARD Goals.

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

function to build strong connections to your HARD Goals that make them feel so required that you have no other choice but to start acting on them right here, right now.

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.

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.

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.

As soon as you opened this book, I knew you were after greatness, significance, and meaning and that you’ve got the talent and mind-set to achieve it. Now, what I’m going to give you in this book is the ways to make your goals worthy of your natural gifts. Because when your talent meets a HARD Goal, greatness is sure to follow. Let’s get started.

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,

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