{"id":3318,"date":"2026-03-11T13:37:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/?p=3318"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:38:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:38:29","slug":"what-really-helps-people-reach-their-goals-by-mike-sullivan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/2026\/what-really-helps-people-reach-their-goals-by-mike-sullivan\/","title":{"rendered":"What Really Helps People Reach Their Goals? By Mike Sullivan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n What Really Helps People Reach Their Goals? By Mike Sullivan\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Really Helps People Reach Their Goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Mike Sullivan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teaser:<\/strong> You might be wrong about why you don\u2019t reach your goals\u2014it\u2019s probably not your personality.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever noticed that you easily achieve some of your goals but fail miserably to make any progress on others? Or maybe it feels like you\u2019re bad at achieving any goal you set? These feelings are common because most people struggle to achieve their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often assume that we\u2019re the problem. \u201cI never achieve what I set out to do because I\u2019m lazy.\u201d \u201cI gave up on my goal to get straight A\u2019s because I\u2019m not very smart.\u201d Thankfully, recent research from our lab shows these explanations matter much less than people think, and other factors like motivation and planning play much larger roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To find out what really helps people achieve their goals, our lab spent years systematically reviewing the scientific research. We collected all relevant studies (over 300!) and put them into a massive spreadsheet so we could identify common factors that help people achieve their goals. A few clear patterns emerged:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Many factors influence whether people achieve their goals\u2014but most play pretty small roles.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Personality factors (e.g., how energetic, hardworking, and emotionally stable you are compared to other people) tend to matter much less than people think.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The kind of motivation you have for your goals is important. People are more likely to achieve goals that are personally meaningful, valuable, and enjoyable compared to goals they feel like they should or have to pursue.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. The amount of effort you put into your goal makes a big difference. This may seem obvious, but it\u2019s worth stating explicitly. You are far more likely to achieve your goals when you work consistently toward them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Planning is underrated. If you are struggling with one of your goals, try using an if-then plan. <\/em>For example, if you want to lift weights five times a week, your if-then plan could be: if<\/em><\/strong> I get home on a weekday before 6:00 PM, then <\/strong>I\u2019ll immediately go to the gym.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. It\u2019s harder to achieve your goals if you\u2019re not feeling well. Prioritizing rest and other healthy habits makes achieving your goals a lot more likely. \u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So that\u2019s it, a brief overview of what five years of research tells us will help people achieve their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Next time you notice that you\u2019re struggling with one of your goals, consider coming back to this list. Remember that even if you\u2019re in a negative headspace, there\u2019s a lot you can control. Ask yourself: is this really a goal I personally care about? Am I working hard enough to achieve it? When you stumble, try an if-then plan. And do your best to maintain healthy habits and a balanced life so you can put in a lot of effort to achieve your goal.

    Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    What Really Helps People Reach Their Goals? By Mike Sullivan Teaser: You might be wrong about why you don\u2019t reach your goals\u2014it\u2019s probably not your personality. Have you ever noticed that you easily achieve some of your goals but fail miserably to make any progress on others? Or maybe it feels like you\u2019re bad at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[42,22,33],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grad-student-blogs","category-news","category-psychology-grad-student-blog"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3318"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3319,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions\/3319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}