We know that even the best goal in the world means little without action. Another variable that can be missed is that our minds are wired to welcome and resist change.
When we set goals, we become attached to how the path to the goal will look. Then, when we encounter obstacles, we don't feel like sticking to the goal.

We like setting goals more than reaching them

Setting a goal releases dopamine and inspires you to take action. Dopamine is high when we set a goal and again when the end is in sight. The greater the reward, the bigger the dopamine spike. However, in the middle phase, dopamine is absent, explaining why you feel less motivated.

Your brain on goals

<ul>
<li>Steady, slow progress. Speedy progress is difficult to keep on fueling. Instead, regularly add tasks into your calendar and keep up with it.</li>
<li>Focus on behaviours first, then goals. Steady behaviours will outperform the shiniest bite-sized goals.</li>
<li>Even if you might be able to do great things by yourself, don't. Try to find people that can keep you accountable and inspired.</li>
</ul>

How to increase your chances of success

<h2>A variable that often gets overlooked is how our brains are wired to both welcome and resist change.
</h2><figure><picture><source media="(max-width: 40em)"><img width="705" height="396" alt="Why you love setting goals more than pursuing them, according to science" srcset="https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_562, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/08/poster-why-you-love-setting-goals.jpg 562w, https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_937, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/08/poster-why-you-love-setting-goals.jpg 937w, https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/w_1153, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/ar_16:9, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/c_fill, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/g_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/f_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/q_auto, https://www.fastcompany.com/90662001/fl_lossy/wp-cms/uploads/2021/08/poster-why-you-love-setting-goals.jpg 1153w"></picture></figure><div class="caption">[Photo: marchmeena29/iStock]
</div><div dir="ltr"><cite dir="ltr">By Nick Wolny </cite>4 minute Read</div>A <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577708/full" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">recent paper</a> published in the journal Frontiers In Psychology said it best: COVID-19 caused many people to experience grief over the loss of their normal routines, and in some cases these feelings snowballed into a loss of meaning in life. The researchers go on to propose a new buzzphrase, “life crafting,” as a way to renew meaning and proactively create the future we want for ourselves and our families.<div>advertisement</div>Life crafting probably isn’t breaking news to you because you’re ambitious, driven, and an achiever. You’ve accomplished big things in the past. So why does setting a goal for yourself still feel like a coin toss at times?We know that the <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/1138937/setting-smart-goals-not-enough-you-have-work-them" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">SMART-est goal</a> in the world means nothing without action. But there’s another variable that often gets overlooked, and that is how our brains are wired to both welcome and resist change. Here’s what goes down in your noggin when you set out to do something awesome—and why it matters.<h2>Why you’re so goals-obsessed</h2>Stoicism and early 20th-century publications like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill/dp/0785833528?tag=wwwfccom-20" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">Think And Grow Rich</a> gave us fleeting tastes of positive psychology, but the self-help movement didn’t really take off until about 45 years ago. From Tony Robbins seminar commercials to Oprah Winfrey on the airwaves to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">Werner Erhard’s EST</a>, self-actualization soon became part of our lives, and millennials soon calibrated their ambitions from the belief system that you can be, do, or have anything you want in life. Being locked down at home for over a year seems to have only accelerated our craving for self-help; the global personal development market is now <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/personal-development-market-size-worth-56-66-billion-by-2027-grand-view-research-inc-301099976.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">projected to surpass $56 billion</a> by 2027.<div>advertisement</div>Honestly, it’s hard not to think about goals these days; every time I log on to social media to escape, I’m bombarded by friends and peers broadcasting their latest achievements. Back when we traveled freely (Remember those days?), <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/millennials-most-likely-to-post-deceptive-vacation-photos-to-make-social-media-followers-jealous-300679940.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">one-third of millennials confessed</a> that the primary motivation for documenting vacation photos was to make friends and family jealous. Of course, we have goals and aspirations on the brain—it’s being shoved in our faces constantly.So you set a goal and then you fixate on it. You become attached to how the path toward your goal will play out, and when obstacles rear their ugly heads, you feel resistant to sticking to it. Two decades before he wrote Thinking, Fast And Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman was serving us <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2937761" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">research</a> on The Endowment Effect, which says we’re more hesitant to give something up when we feel it belongs to us.<h2>This is your brain on goals</h2>The act of setting a goal releases the neurotransmitter dopamine and motivates you to take productive action. A popular <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01589-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">study</a> published in Nature noted that dopamine not only spikes when we set a goal for ourselves but also when we’re close to achieving that goal. The bigger the reward, the more powerful the spike. This is probably why we’re able to power through in a race or a project once we see light at the end of the tunnel. Dopamine bookends the goal-achieving experience, and its absence during the middle phase—which is where you take all the life-changing action—leaves you less motivated from the jump.&nbsp;<div>advertisement</div>Setting goals is the easy part. Our problems arise when we become <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260106380021" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">challenged to regulate our behavior</a> and keep implementation top-of-mind. Perhaps this is my diet talking, but…self-regulation blows. It initially requires a steady stream of willpower, which is scientifically challenging. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20565167/" rel="noopener noreferrer" dir="ltr">Research confirms</a> that burning down willpower makes you more susceptible to temptation down the road. That’s why you should use your dopamine honeymoon to create structure and a plan of attack.&nbsp;<h2>How to maximize your chances of success</h2>Science and history would suggest we’ve been conditioned to crave self-actualization. But if you’re reading this article, chances are that you welcome this conditioning and still have aspirations and dreams you want to pursue. So here are a few things to keep in mind as you feed your ambitions.<figure><picture><img alt="Fast Company announces details of seventh annual innovation festival" src="https://images.fastcompany.net/image/upload/wp-cms/uploads/2021/07/poster-fast-company-innovation-festival-annoucement-2021.jpg"></picture></figure>

A variable that often gets overlooked is how our brains are wired to both welcome and resist change.

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

health

Health

habits

Habits

A <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.577708/full">recent paper </a>published in the journal Frontiers In Psychology said it best: COVID-19 caused many people to experience grief over the loss of their normal routines, and in some cases these feelings snowballed into a loss of meaning in life. The researchers go on to propose a new buzzphrase, “life crafting,” as a way to renew meaning and proactively create the future we want for ourselves and our families.

Life crafting probably isn’t breaking news to you because you’re ambitious, driven, and an achiever. You’ve accomplished big things in the past. So why does setting a goal for yourself still feel like a coin toss at times?

We know that the <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/1138937/setting-smart-goals-not-enough-you-have-work-them">SMART-est goal </a>in the world means nothing without action. But there’s another variable that often gets overlooked, and that is how our brains are wired to both welcome and resist change. Here’s what goes down in your noggin when you set out to do something awesome—and why it matters.

Stoicism and early 20th-century publications like <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Think-Grow-Rich-Napoleon-Hill/dp/0785833528?tag=wwwfccom-20">Think And Grow Rich </a>gave us fleeting tastes of positive psychology, but the self-help movement didn’t really take off until about 45 years ago. From Tony Robbins seminar commercials to Oprah Winfrey on the airwaves to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/fashion/the-return-of-werner-erhard-father-of-self-help.html">Werner Erhard’s EST </a>, self-actualization soon became part of our lives, and millennials soon calibrated their ambitions from the belief system that you can be, do, or have anything you want in life. Being locked down at home for over a year seems to have only accelerated our craving for self-help; the global personal development market is now <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/personal-development-market-size-worth-56-66-billion-by-2027-grand-view-research-inc-301099976.html">projected to surpass $56 billion </a>by 2027.

Honestly, it’s hard not to think about goals these days; every time I log on to social media to escape, I’m bombarded by friends and peers broadcasting their latest achievements. Back when we traveled freely (Remember those days?), <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/millennials-most-likely-to-post-deceptive-vacation-photos-to-make-social-media-followers-jealous-300679940.html">one-third of millennials confessed </a>that the primary motivation for documenting vacation photos was to make friends and family jealous. Of course, we have goals and aspirations on the brain—it’s being shoved in our faces constantly.

So you set a goal and then you fixate on it. You become attached to how the path toward your goal will play out, and when obstacles rear their ugly heads, you feel resistant to sticking to it. Two decades before he wrote Thinking, Fast And Slow , psychologist Daniel Kahneman was serving us <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2937761">research </a>on The Endowment Effect, which says we’re more hesitant to give something up when we feel it belongs to us.

The act of setting a goal releases the neurotransmitter dopamine and motivates you to take productive action. A popular <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01589-6">study </a>published in Nature noted that dopamine not only spikes when we set a goal for ourselves but also when we’re close to achieving that goal. The bigger the reward, the more powerful the spike. This is probably why we’re able to power through in a race or a project once we see light at the end of the tunnel. Dopamine bookends the goal-achieving experience, and its absence during the middle phase—which is where you take all the life-changing action—leaves you less motivated from the jump.

Setting goals is the easy part. Our problems arise when we become <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0065260106380021">challenged to regulate our behavior </a>and keep implementation top-of-mind. Perhaps this is my diet talking, but…self-regulation blows. It initially requires a steady stream of willpower, which is scientifically challenging. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20565167/">Research confirms </a>that burning down willpower makes you more susceptible to temptation down the road. That’s why you should use your dopamine honeymoon to create structure and a plan of attack.

Science and history would suggest we’ve been conditioned to crave self-actualization. But if you’re reading this article, chances are that you welcome this conditioning and still have aspirations and dreams you want to pursue. So here are a few things to keep in mind as you feed your ambitions.

Why you love setting goals more than pursuing them

We like setting goals more than reaching them

Your brain on goals

How to increase your chances of success

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