--- description: “Before I die I want to…” title: 5 New Secrets to Achieving Your Goals, Backed By Research image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb2294ab20367fae/698853c4428a9e4f07ccda08/129842894-copy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Psychology](/tag/psychology/) ## Psychology Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 5 New Secrets to Achieving Your Goals, Backed By Research by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2015 4:01 AM CUT  Hiker, Valle de Tena, Pyrenees Mountains. Huesca province, Aragon, Spain Hiker, Valle de Tena, Pyrenees Mountains. Huesca province, Aragon, SpainGetty Images by [Eric Barker](/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2015 4:01 AM CUT Goal setting is one of [the four techniques the military used to increase Navy SEAL passing rates](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-four-psychological-techniques-did-the-go "undefined") from 25% to 33%. Studies have also shown it [makes you happier](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-setting-goals-make-you-happier "undefined"). **_So what are five steps to achieving your goals?_** ## **1) Shut Up** Keep them secret. Talking about big goals rewards yourself ahead of time and makes you less likely to follow through. Via Daniel Coyle’s excellent book [The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/034553025X/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=034553025X&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- Do NOT fantasize about achieving your goal. That’s [eating dessert first and saps motivation](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-fantasizing-give-you-the-motivation-to-a "undefined"). Thinking about [what you have to do to prepare for a challenge](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-a-rocky-training-montage-what-you-need-to "undefined") was more likely to lead to success than imagining the victory. ## **2) Make working on your goals fun** People are happier when their goals are aligned, meaning their short term goals lead to the achievement of their long term goals. So make it fun in the short term and you’ll likely achieve more (and be happier) in the long term. Via Jonathan Haidt’s [The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0465028020/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0465028020 "undefined"): --- > “” --- ## **3) Join AA** Okay, you don’t actually have to _join_ Alcoholics Anonymous but you can definitely learn something from them: Alcoholics focus on staying sober one day at a time and celebrate these “small wins”. Research has shown that paying attention to “small wins” can help you make progress in many areas of your life. Via [Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1439170428/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1439170428&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- Track your accomplishments on a chart. Do anything so that you can see progress because [nothing motivates you more than seeing progress](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-motivates-us-more-than-most-anything-els "undefined"). ## **4) Don’t know what your goals are? Think about your funeral.** 9 minutes in to his famous Stanford commencement speech Steve Jobs explains the importance he placed on thinking about death during life: --- > “” --- Visualize your funeral and consider what you would want friends to describe as your legacy. Via Richard Wiseman’s excellent book [59 Seconds: Change Your Life in Under a Minute](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307474860/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217153&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0307474860 "undefined"): --- > “” --- Candy Chang gives an inspirational TED talk about a project that asked people to finish the sentence: “Before I die I want to…” Initially, the research says, aim high. [Set ambitious goals](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-it-better-to-start-off-with-ambitious-goal "undefined"). (But later on down the road [don’t be afraid to settle](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-it-better-to-settle "undefined") to be happy.) ## **5) Helping other achieve their goals can help you with yours** Undergrads who wrote letters of encouragement to “at-risk” middleschoolers advising them to persevere and that intelligence “is not a finite endowment but rather an expandabale capacity” became, themselves, happier and better in school for _months_ afterward. Truth is, there were no middleschoolers. Via [Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594488185/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1594488185&linkCode=as2&tag=spacforrent-20 "undefined"): --- > “” --- **Join over 190,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD "undefined")**.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/01/checklist-achieve-goals/ "undefined")**_._** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/ "undefined") [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/ "undefined") [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3915012/secrets-achieving-goals/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3915012/secrets-achieving-goals/"},"headline":"5 New Secrets to Achieving Your Goals, Backed By Research","datePublished":"2015-06-15T04:01:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:29:48.751Z","description":"“Before I die I want to…”","url":"https://time.com/3915012/secrets-achieving-goals/","keywords":["Psychology","Steve Jobs"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb2294ab20367fae/698853c4428a9e4f07ccda08/129842894-copy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb2294ab20367fae/698853c4428a9e4f07ccda08/129842894-copy1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"man-hiking-mountain","caption":"man-hiking-mountain","creditText":"Getty 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":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3915012/secrets-achieving-goals/","name":"5 New Secrets to Achieving Your Goals, Backed By Research"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME 100: Oprah Winfrey on her Greatest Influence","description":"The talk show host and media mogul talks about a historical figure and a filmmaker who have both influenced her life","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/qBFkLXpg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-04-21T10:27:51.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/qBFkLXpg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3915012/secrets-achieving-goals/","duration":"PT4M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3915012/secrets-achieving-goals/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```