How to Achieve Your Life Goals Without Struggling

What if you could work on your life goals without having to work harder? What if you could pursue multiple goals without feeling overwhelmed? What does that look like to you?

Hi, my name is Paden. I run a full-time coaching business while also focusing on personal life goals. These include getting healthier in my body and relationships. I've even learned to play the piano and study two foreign languages simultaneously!

I’m able to work on multiple life goals without struggling because I believe that pursuing your life goals should be enjoyable. It doesn’t have to feel like a huge struggle. In this post, I want to share four things that have helped me stop struggling with my life goals. I’ve learned to work on them in a relaxed and peaceful way. Yes, I said peaceful! This means no hustle, no anxiety, and no feeling overwhelmed.

This will be worth your time if you want to stop struggling with your life goals and actually enjoy working on them. If you're ready, let's dive in!

Understanding the Struggle

Let’s start by talking about the struggle when it comes to working on goals. Here’s a question: Where did you learn to struggle with your goals? As kids, we had no problem pursuing our dreams. We didn’t even know what it meant to struggle. There were no limitations in our minds. We were certain we could do anything!

However, as we grew up, we adopted certain limitations. We created limiting beliefs about ourselves and the world around us. One common belief is that to succeed, you must struggle. We often heard phrases like, “Unless you work hard, you won’t achieve your goals.” This message came from well-meaning parents and teachers.

We were conditioned to think that struggle was necessary for success. It seems radical to consider enjoying what you do. For a long time, I believed there was nobility in suffering. I thought I didn’t deserve success unless I suffered.

Pop culture reinforced this belief. TV shows, movies, and even books like the Hero's Journey taught us that we must endure hardship to achieve our goals. Suffering was sold to us as the price to pay for success.

The idea that you can enjoy working on your goals was laughable to me for a long time. Everyone has to pay the price, I reasoned. I was taught that successful people sacrifice their peace of mind and comfort to achieve their goals. So, who was I to argue with this “truth”?

Through my experience, I’ve learned that while suffering may be conventional, it’s not necessary. My coaching philosophy revolves around the idea that you can work on what matters to you without suffering.

Breaking Free from Limiting Beliefs

If you’re suffering, you’ve likely bought into this popular idea that society sells us. Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it’s right.

Here’s an example: Did you know that just a hundred years ago, life insurance policies were considered illegal? Just because the popular idea is that you must suffer to achieve your goals doesn’t mean it has to be your truth. It certainly isn’t mine anymore.

I tried the “let’s suffer and sacrifice” mentality for almost a decade, and it did me no favors. I was in my worst physical and mental state. I had poor relationships and felt unfulfilled.

After discarding the idea of suffering, my health improved drastically. I now have better relationships and feel fulfilled with my work and goals. Now, let’s discuss how you can eliminate the struggle of working on your goals.

Identifying Your Goals

I’m going to assume you have at least one life goal you’re currently working on. If you’re unsure and want extra help, you can download my free audio training on how to find meaningful goals here.

Let’s say you want to get healthier. Maybe you’ve been feeling stressed and are considering starting a workout routine.

How would you start working on this goal? You might think, “I should get healthier.” Next, you enroll in a gym and start going. After a few days, you find it hard to keep going. Your body feels sore, and your mind convinces you that skipping one day isn’t a big deal.

And then it happens. The momentum you built up disappears. When you miss that first day, it’s downhill from there. Before you know it, you’ve paid for a whole year of gym membership but only attended a few days.

This pattern can apply to any goal. Let’s say you want to learn a new skill. You sign up for a class, feel excited for a few days, and then find it hard to show up for online sessions or study by yourself.

The Challenge of Consistency

Why does this happen? Whether it’s getting fit, learning a new skill, or creating a new habit, it’s easier to start than to keep going. At least, it may seem that way initially.

After some practice, Newton’s first law of motion kicks in: a body in motion stays in motion. The challenge is reaching that “staying in motion” part, which is all about automaticity—sticking with your efforts.

Now, if you’re still here, I promise I won’t just suggest positive thinking to work on your goals. So, don’t be put off by the word “discipline.”

I’m not a fan of toxic positivity that says you must push yourself and sacrifice your soul to reach your goals. What would be the point of that? If hard work alone were enough, why are so many well-intentioned people still struggling with their goals?

In my experience, you can work extremely hard and still not achieve your goals or feel fulfilled. This often happens because you’re working hard on the wrong things—goals that don’t truly matter to you.

Two Key Elements of Goal Achievement

So, how do you work on your goals without struggling? Here’s what I’ve found to be true: there are only two things you control when it comes to your goals. Everything else is out of your control.

First, it’s up to you to decide which goals you want to work on. Second, you get to choose how you want to work on those goals. Everything else is beyond your control.

You can’t control when you’ll achieve your goals, whether your loved ones will support you, or whether you’ll be successful. You only get to choose what you want to work on and how to work on those goals.

While you can choose your goals and how to pursue them, you cannot predict with certainty if or when you will achieve them or if they will look exactly as you imagined.

Don’t mistake this for being less ambitious. The point of working on goals is to hope to achieve them. To quote the Bhagavad Gita, “You’re only entitled to your labor, but not entitled to the fruits of your labor.”

The Common Pitfall

Here’s what most people do when they start working on their goals: they begin with excitement. That’s great! They start doing a few things, which is also great. But soon, they stop because they feel tired and discouraged.

Let’s break down the two things you control that can stop unnecessary struggle while working on your goals.

First, look at the goals you’re pursuing. Ask yourself: Are they really your goals? If you want my free audio training on choosing meaningful goals, download it here.

Reflecting on Your Life Goals

Here’s what I thought my life was all about: finish college, get a high-paying job, get married, have kids, provide for them, buy a house, buy a car, save for retirement, and die peacefully.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this idea of life if it fulfills you. But for me, it didn’t work. It didn’t satisfy my creative desires. I wanted to do more while working.

I started questioning the life I was living and sought to create more. Of course, I needed to pay my bills, have a personal life, and save money. But I began asking myself: What else do I want to do with my life?

This questioning led me to my creative endeavors, and I’ve never felt more alive and fulfilled. Before you start working on your goals, truly consider whether they matter to you. They need to make sense to you alone.

Overcoming Self-Doubt

I guarantee this won’t be easy. Your self-doubts or external factors may hold you back from pursuing what you deeply desire. Remind yourself that you weren’t put on this earth just to be born, study, get a job, pay bills, and die one day.

You are a creative being, and you get to decide what creativity looks like for you. If your job and bills were taken care of, what would you like to do with your time? Is there a hobby you’d want to pursue? Maybe learn a new skill or travel to a foreign place?

What would you choose? Something that encourages me are these words: At the end of life, you won’t regret the things you did, but most likely regret the things you didn’t do. The pain of regret is far worse than the pain of failing at something.

Choosing Your Goals

So, will you choose your goals? If you said yes, it’s time for step number two: how do you work in a way that ends your struggle?

Let’s be clear: no one knows your life better than you. In my case, I don’t have kids, which gives me more time than someone who does. Don’t think that unless you follow all these steps I’m suggesting, you’re failing with your goals.

If you feel overwhelmed, there’s always room for improvement. If you’ve decided to pursue your goals, it’s up to you to find a way to work on them. After all, we all have the same 24 hours, and it’s up to you to decide how to use yours.

Preparing for Success

First things first: if you’re not preparing to work on your goal, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Hear me when I say this: no matter how pressed for time you think you are, if you can’t carve out time for your goals, either they don’t matter enough, or you need to improve your time management.

In my experience, I’ve seen countless clients who want to work on life goals beyond their careers. I always start by asking how much time they spend on their goals daily, weekly, or monthly. Interestingly, most of them have no clue.

In the words of Tony Robbins, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” You don’t need to be a data nerd to track your progress, but it helps to have a way to monitor your efforts.

When you start tracking your efforts, it encourages you during low or uninspired times. The final part of tracking your efforts is to remember why you started working on this particular goal.

Finding Joy in Your Journey

Why did you begin? Unless you’re being forced to work on this goal, you should be enjoying yourself. If you’re not enjoying yourself, check if you’re truly working on what matters to you.

The struggle often arises because you aren’t tracking your progress, you’re not working on meaningful goals, or you’re only working when you feel like it. Ask yourself: What is your unique way of working on goals?

If you’re unsure, you might not be strategic with your goals. If you work only when you find the time or when you’re in the mood, you won’t achieve the same results as if you were methodical in your approach.

My Strategies for Success

Here are three things I do specifically to eliminate the struggle of working on my goals:

1. Assess Your Goals: I ask myself if this goal is something I want to pursue in this season of my life. This helps prioritize my goals. You can do many things, but not all at once.

   
   

2. Protect Your Time: Before I do anything to achieve my goal, I assess my time as if my life depends on it. More than money, your time is crucial. When you protect your time as you would your money, you’ll find time for what matters to you.

   
   

3. Create a Routine: I create a routine that centers around my goals. Not everyone loves routines, but I’ve found joy in creating fun ones for my personal and professional goals. This has drastically reduced my struggle.

   
   

Keeping Your Vision Alive

While working on my goals, I keep my end goal at the heart of my life. I don’t compare my goals and successes with others. When things get tough, I remind myself of what I’m trying to accomplish.

For example, when I started learning Spanish, my goal was to learn a few fun phrases. Then I aimed for an A1 level certification. Now, I aspire to be conversational and eventually fluent. The end goal is always defined by me.

When I feel overwhelmed, I remind myself that I chose this goal. No one is forcing me to work on it. I just need to work on it in a healthy way.

Letting Go of Control

The final step, which may be unpopular, is to detach from the goal. I have a vision of what my end goal looks like. While I want to do my best, years of struggling have taught me that I can only control my efforts, not the outcome.

This isn’t a passive approach, but a heart-centered one. I’m willing to allow the universe, God, or my higher self to bring me what I want—or something even better.

If you give yourself the flexibility to be open, you can achieve things greater than you initially imagined. This is the hardest step, but it has ended my struggle. I now focus on the joy of working on my goals rather than obsessing over the outcome.

Taking Action

If you’re wondering how to put all of this into action, sit down with your goal and follow these steps. No amount of thinking or watching videos will move you toward what you want.

Regardless of your goals, remember that struggling is an unnecessary ingredient. You can choose to work without feeling overwhelmed.

Working on goals is hard enough; you don’t want to complicate things further by struggling. If this resonates with you, hit subscribe for weekly inspiration.

Comment below about the one goal you’re currently struggling with. I want to know! If you need help simplifying your journey to stay on track with your life goals, you can sign up for a strategy coaching session with me.

Till next week, remember: your goals matter, and it’s up to you to make them happen!