--- title: How to Set Ambitious Goals to Realize Your Dreams description: Learn how to set ambitious goals in order to realize all of your wildest dreams and become successful in the latest Do It Scared podcast. canonical: https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/ author: Ruth Soukup article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-21T12:00:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:31:42.720Z og:title: How Setting Big Goals Can Help You Achieve Your Wildest Dreams og:description: It's the key to success og:url: https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08be2952c8afb592/6989337397cdff99406b58ac/setting-goals.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 6720 og:image:height: 3780 og:image:alt: Benefits of setting goals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Setting Big Goals Can Help You Achieve Your Wildest Dreams twitter:description: It's the key to success twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08be2952c8afb592/6989337397cdff99406b58ac/setting-goals.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Setting Big Goals Can Help You Achieve Your Wildest Dreams > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=404886cb-2fdd-411a-9a9f-9301837984b5&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 5 Motivational Secrets That'll Unlock Your Ambition [Watch (HLS stream): 5 Motivational Secrets That'll Unlock Your Ambition](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FYtZf9Ul.m3u8) (1:33)  _Published 2018-03-13. 5 Motivational Secrets That'll Unlock Your Ambition_ by [Ruth Soukup](https://time.com/author/ruth-soukup/) ## Ruth Soukup Jun 21, 2018 12:00 PM UTC 5 Motivational Secrets That'll Unlock Your Ambition by [Ruth Soukup](https://time.com/author/ruth-soukup/) ## Ruth Soukup Jun 21, 2018 12:00 PM UTC I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a [goal junkie](http://time.com/4472819/how-to-achieve-goals/). I love setting goals. I love achieving goals. I love crossing things off my [to-do list](https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-time-to-get-rid-of-the-to-do-list-1520523725) and feeling like I’m getting somewhere. And I am a total sucker for anything that feels like a clean slate to start all over again, whether that be a [new year](http://time.com/5119144/goal-setting-new-years-resolutions/), a new season, a new month, a new week or even a new day. Maybe I’m just [overly optimistic](http://time.com/5086907/bill-gates-nancy-gibbs-interview/), but I always just love the potential of what that fresh start could bring. Of course, I’ve also been guilty a time or two — or 100, maybe — of losing momentum on all those big ideas. Life gets in the way and I start to fizzle out. The reality of all those day-to-day responsibilities starts to weigh me down, and I don’t feel quite as enthusiastic. I lose focus. I’ll start working on one thing one day and another thing another day, and never really gain enough traction in any one area to feel like I’ve accomplished something. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who sometimes [struggles to stay focused](http://time.com/4817946/brain-games-distraction-attention/), or who feels like they are losing momentum and motivation when it comes to their goals. In fact, a 2015 study found that humans now have a [shorter average attention span than a goldfish](http://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/). Seriously. And so the question is — what can we do about it? That’s exactly the topic that I discuss in this episode of [Do It Scared](https://doitscared.com/). In it, I share the biggest, most important thing I’ve learned about [productivity](http://time.com/4893360/tech-productivity-tips-tricks/), goal setting and staying focused, which is that setting a bunch of smaller goals that seem like they should be attainable is actually counter-productive. Instead, the true secret to getting more done, staying focused and maintaining motivation is to start thinking big and to set stretch goals — goals that push you past your comfort zone and get your adrenaline pumping. If you’re ready to start setting goals that will actually keep you motivated, don’t miss these four practical steps that you can start implementing right away in order to achieve your aspirations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/"},"headline":"How Setting Big Goals Can Help You Achieve Your Wildest Dreams","datePublished":"2018-06-21T12:00:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-12T09:31:42.720Z","description":"It's the key to success","url":"https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/","keywords":["motto","Living","advice"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08be2952c8afb592/6989337397cdff99406b58ac/setting-goals.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ruth Soukup","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ruth-soukup/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08be2952c8afb592/6989337397cdff99406b58ac/setting-goals.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Benefits of setting goals","caption":"Creative businesswoman brainstorming her goals with a flowchart","creditText":"Hero Images—Getty Images/Hero Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/","name":"How Setting Big Goals Can Help You Achieve Your Wildest Dreams"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Motivational Secrets That'll Unlock Your Ambition","description":"5 Motivational Secrets That'll Unlock Your Ambition","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FYtZf9Ul/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-03-13T20:46:38.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FYtZf9Ul.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/","duration":"PT1M33S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5317222/setting-ambitious-goals/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```