You can be sure that life will at times be a twisting path of “potholes” around which you must navigate. You’ve likely been through phases of your life already where you wondered if your luck would ever change. Then, things calmed down, and you discovered the smoother, straighter road. 

Regardless of where your journey leads, it’s essential to be able to continue making progress in meeting the goals you’ve established for yourself. Staying focused on what you want will keep your spirits high and bring you joy through the tough times.

The key, then, to a fulfilled life (personal & professional) is to achieve your goals no matter what. This lesson gives you five strategies that you can always use to keep obstacles from stopping you.

Try these tips to continue going for your goals even when life’s road gets rough:

1. Know precisely what you’re after in life. What do you want your life to be like? What are you looking to achieve professionally? When you’re sure, you can then plan your activities over the short and long term to help you achieve your goals.
2. Keep your list of goals short and to the point. Some good examples of goals are: 

• “Save 25% of my yearly earnings for kids’ education, vacations, and retirement.” 
• “Finding a new opportunity in 2-3 month”. 
• “Secure a promotion at work.” 
• “Take budget-friendly vacations out of the country every 5 years.”
• “Retire when I’m 67.”

3. Infuse elements of achieving your goals into your everyday life. 

• Let’s say one of your goals, a trip out of the country will be to Australia 3 years from now. 

• Have reminders and tasks to do that are related to meeting your life goals throughout your home. 
• Make it personal and keep in it the front of your mind.
• Have a couple of books about Australia lying around the house, on your coffee table and nightstand. Listen to music from Australia on your MP3. Watch television shows about Aussie land. 
• You have a professional goal of getting a promotion in a couple of years. 

• Make your goal a part of your everyday life so that even when times get bumpy, you’ll be able to keep your eyes on what’s important to you.
• Secure a mentor that can keep you and track and support you. 
• Talk to people in the position you want to achieve to understand what you need to do to get there. 
• Take training and listen to audiobooks that can help you improve your skillset.

4. Talk positively to yourself. It can be quite helpful to use positive self-talk. When you do, you’ll be more likely to keep working toward your goals in life. Say something like: 

• “I’m in a rough patch but I will still keep saving for my retirement and my kids’ educations.”
• “This is an opportunity for me to collect the right data to provide a better answer next time.”
• “I’ve triumphed thru worst times.”
• “As long as I keep moving forward, things will be okay,”
• Using positive self-talk will keep your spirits buoyed when you feel like your floundering in choppy waters. 

5. Reflect on your efforts to reinforce them. Even though you may be struggling, think about what you accomplished just this week to achieve your goals. Maybe you made a couple of phone calls, explored the internet to gather information, or validated the budget with a stakeholder. 

• The fact is you did something. And recognizing that will reinforce your efforts in your quest to achieve your goals. You can excel in times of great challenge.

Keep working toward accomplishing your goals even though life throws out more than a few obstacles at you. 

Know what you’re after and stay focused. Make your goals a part of your daily life at home and work. Acknowledge what you’ve done to keep moving forward. 

Apply these strategies to help you consistently work to meet your life goals. If you do, you’ll accomplish whatever you want, no matter what.

If you know the most common obstacles and how to overcome them, you’ll have a massive advantage in the game of life. You can look forward to receiving that information in the next lesson.

Here’s what you need to do today:

Notice what you say to yourself.

• Be mindful of things you say to yourself.
• How much of it is harmful? Or is it helpful?
• How do you think this influences your attitude and results? 
• How does it affect your ability to overcome life’s obstacles?