How to Achieve Goals in Life Without Losing Motivation

If you've done just about any amount of self-help reading, you know that to make your life more fulfilling and productive, you need to set goals.

The problem is, there are many different ways to go about achieving goals. Also, many of us were never taught in school how our psychology works, so we have no idea why we keep making little, if any progress in life.

Here are some ways you can approach and set goals to make them more achievable:

1. Make goals align with your values

Typically, everyone has at least one main goal related to money. Without money, life is very difficult. But, to make money, you don't want to just set a goal to get rich.

You need to do something that you believe in. You need to do something that won't make you lose sleep at night or question your morals.

Many people make money doing the wrong things. Ask yourself if what you're doing is something that actually makes the world a better place and has a positive impact.

2. Make bigger goals

It's pretty easy to lose motivation when your goal is too achievable. You need to take some time and visualize what your life would be like if you reached those goals.

A small goal would be to get a raise at your job. Getting a raise is great, but how much is the typical raise? Would that really impact your life that much?

To be really motivated, you would probably be better off pursuing a big goal like getting your boss' job at another company or starting a successful side business that makes as much as your current job, so you can quit in the next year.

Don't sell yourself short or your motivation will never be very high.

3. Track your progress

One thing I like to do is write down what I got done each work day in a journal. This allows me to test different approaches to doing things and see if something works.

It also helps you hold yourself accountable. Whether you're trying to build a YouTube channel, reach fitness goals, be a better parent, etc., you need to always have some way of tracking your progress.

4. Reward yourself epically when you reach goals

Take a vacation, go pig out at your favorite restaurant, or do something else that you would only do on a big, special occasion when you reach goals.

Not only will you get the internal satisfaction of reaching the goal and whatever comes with that, but you'll be getting the special reward as icing on the cake.

Visualize that every day and you shouldn't have a motivation problem.

5. Tell other people your goal and a deadline

Setting deadlines is a classic way to help you reach goals, but if you're the only one who knows about them, what good are they?

It's hard to hold yourself accountable for every little thing. It's hard to punish yourself when you don't get done what you should. That's just not how we're wired.

But, if you tell your friends and family about your goals and when you want to achieve them, a few things happen:

They constantly ask you about them. Trust me, you'll feel bad if you haven't made progress.
You'll know that if you don't work towards those goals, you'll look like a liar or a hypocrite.
You just made a real decision. This isn't an idea anymore, but a commitment to yourself and others to accomplish something.

One more thing… Don't try to cheat and only tell people that you never see or stay in touch with. Tell people that will constantly be able to hold you accountable.