Inspirational Goal Setting Quotes by Famous People

Most of us understand the power of goal setting. It is one of the most effective ways to enable personal, professional, and holistic growth. Setting goals helps you visualize your journey, monitor progress, stay on purpose, and set the direction for continuous learning and development.

However, it is easy to drift off and lose sight of your goals every so often. Minor setbacks, personal crises, or professional stress, many things come in the way of achieving your vision.

How can you get yourself back on track and continue to persevere? One effective and almost instant technique to get out of the funk and motivate yourself is to use inspirational goal-setting quotes by famous people.

Here is a list of some of the most powerful goal-setting quotes ever:

Powerful and inspirational goal setting quotes to motivate you

1. “A goal properly set is halfway reached.” – Zig Ziglar

American motivational speaker Zig Ziglar has put together a list of seven steps associated with goal setting and achievement. Ziglar firmly advocates setting goals correctly by understanding the motivation behind them.

2. Without dreams and goals, there is no living, only merely existing, and that is not why we are here. — Mark Twain

Human beings are the only species with the ability and potential to think and act on their dreams. A life without dreams, goals, and desires is simply a waste of an opportunity.

3. “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” — Les Brown

Always aim high because even if you don’t reach your original goals, you will still be better off than where you started.

4. “Goal-setting is powerful, partly because it provides focus. It shapes our dreams. It gives us the ability to hone in on the exact actions we need to perform to achieve everything we desire in life.” — Jim Rohn.

Setting goals gives concrete actions to fulfill our dreams and helps us define the exact road map to reach our destination.

5. “A goal should scare you a little and excite you a lot.” — Joe Vitale

If your goals don’t excite you, then it is likely that you will follow through. At the same time, if the goals don’t intimidate you just a little, you are aiming too low.

6. “Goal-setting is not only about choosing the rewards you want to enjoy but also the costs you are willing to pay.” – James Clear

No pain, no gain. While goal setting is ultimately about fulfilling your desires, everything has a price, be it hard work, persistence, or patience.

7. “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Having a goal is admirable, but it needs to be backed up with actions, or it will just remain a daydream.

8. “Successful people do things that the average person is not willing to do. They make sacrifices the average person is not willing to make. But the difference it makes is extraordinary.” — Brian Tracy

Brian Tracy, the Canadian American motivational speaker, identifies the difference between successful and average people, and that is just the willingness to go the extra mile and make sacrifices.

9. “People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.” — Earl Nightingale

People without goals let co-incidences and circumstances shape their lives. Successful people take charge of their lives because they have a journey and destination insight.

10. “If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy and inspires your hopes.”– Andrew Carnegie

Setting the right kind of goals can determine the quality of your life, inspiring you daily and motivating you to work, ultimately leading to happiness.

11. It’s not the goal that will make you successful, it’s what you do daily. Maxime Lagacé

Ultimately, long-term success is built by daily acts of preparation and hard work. The collective action and consistent efforts make you succeed and not just the goal in itself.

12. “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” — Henry David Thoreau

Achieving goals requires time, effort, patience, intelligence, and the ability to stay put even when things are not going in the right direction. The goal is a great reward, but the bigger reward is how the process shapes your personality through discipline and hard work.

13. Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there. — Bo Jackson

American professional baseball and football players believe there is no big secret to success. It only needs you to set lofty goals and continue to hustle until you reach them.

14. “Set your goals - without goals you cannot measure your progress. But don't become frustrated because there are no obvious victories. Remind yourself that striving can be more important than arriving. “ Marvin J. Ashton

Goal attainment is the by-product of a journey laden with inner growth and continuous improvement. Instead of obsessing about the victories, focus on the process that leads you there.

15. “All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim and have fixed their gaze on a goal. — Orison Swett Marden

It is easy to waver and lose focus of your goal when success seems elusive, but anyone who’s achieved something has persisted and never lost sight of the prize.

16. “Setting goals helps bring your future into your present and the present is the only time we can take action.” — Zig Ziglar

The best time to act is right now. Procrastination is the enemy of goals and success.

17. “The moment you put a deadline on your dream, it becomes a goal.” — Harsha Bhogle

An important part of fulfilling your dreams is to design a concrete plan of action to achieve them.

18. “It’s harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.”– Pat Summitt

Don’t rest on your laurels once you have achieved what you set out to do. Continue pushing your boundaries and seek new challenges, for it is the journey that makes it worth the while.

19. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”– Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein’s Theory of Happiness was written in 1922, where he outlines many of his ideas about happiness. He firmly believed that when you have aims and ideals, it gives purpose and meaning to your life, making it happier.

20. “People are not lazy. They simply have impotent goals—that is, goals that do not inspire them.” — Tony Robbins

If you are procrastinating or lazing around instead of acting on your dreams, then perhaps it is time to revisit your goals and find those that truly motivate you.

21. “Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.”– Brian Tracy

Goals are powerful visualization tools that make our desires tangible and keep us working towards them.

22. “I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.”– Michael Phelps

The most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, writes down all his goals and believes that you will never try hard enough if they are too easy.

23. “A good goal is like a strenuous exercise — it makes you stretch.”– Mary Kay Ash

You must push your limitations and stretch continuously if you want your dreams to come true. Nothing great comes from a place of comfort.

24. “A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”– Bruce Lee

Success is a journey, and the many repeated acts of working towards a goal give an aim to your life, making an effort more important than the outcome.

25. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”– Jim Rohn

Discipline brings efficiency and productivity to our daily routine. Without discipline, your goals will remain an elusive mirage that goes further away.

26. “Most impossible goals can be met simply by breaking them down into bite-size chunks, writing them down, believing them, and going full speed ahead as if they were routine.” — Don Lancaster

The trick is to run sprints and not a marathon, break up your goals into achievable chunks and then run after them.

27. “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” — Anthony Robbins.

The simple act of setting goals makes them more tangible and gives you milestones to follow.

28. “If you’re bored with life – you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things – you don’t have enough goals.”– Lou Holtz

Lack of focus and direction is what differentiates the drifters from achievers. People driven by a purpose have a unique spark about them, for they have the burning desire to plan, act and fulfill their ambition.

29. “Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.”– George Whitefield

When there are setbacks in your journey to your goals, it is important not to wallow in those moments of failure but move forward with determination to achieve your aim.

30. “It must be borne in mind that the tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” — Benjamin E. Mays

It is not important whether you reach your goals or fail. The only failure is having a life without the desire and drive to do something.

Conclusion

These goal-setting quotes and sayings hold the collective wisdom and experience of some of the best self-help authors and life coaches. They act as fuel and push us to keep going, no matter what.

There’s nothing like a goal-setting quote to pep you up instantly and strengthen your resolve whenever you are down in the dumps. Print them on a coffee mug, a T-shirt, make it your wallpaper or screensaver, surround yourself with positivity to support your goals.