Do Your Goals Support Who You Are?

Your Goals Are Lying to You

If you’re not where you want to be in life, it’s probably not because you’re lazy, unlucky, or cursed by Mercury in retrograde. More likely? Your goals and your core beliefs are in a death match—and your beliefs are winning.

Why? Because people don’t like acting against their own principles. Even if their goals look good on Instagram.

When what you’re chasing doesn’t line up with what you believe, you’ll self-sabotage like a pro. Every. Single. Time.

Want to Make Progress? Start by Asking Yourself This:

What actually matters to you? (Not what you say matters on your LinkedIn profile. What really matters?)

Most people never bother to define what they stand for. Then they wonder why they’re chasing goals that feel like pushing a boulder uphill… in flip-flops… during a hailstorm.

Here’s a fix:

• Take 30 minutes. Write down what you believe in.
• Put those beliefs in order.
• Then compare that list to how you spend your time.

Spoiler: There’s usually a mismatch the size of the Grand Canyon.

Do You Even Know What You’re Trying to Do?

Let’s get brutally clear. Do you want:

• To make millions?
• To get ripped?
• To write a screenplay and sell it to Netflix?
• To “find yourself” in Bali?

It doesn’t matter what your goals are. But you do need to know them. Vagueness kills momentum.

Here’s Where Things Get Messy

Now that you’ve figured out your goals, ask this:

Do your beliefs support them—or destroy them?

Some greatest hits of self-sabotage:

• You want to be rich, but deep down you think money corrupts. (Good luck with that.)
• You want a six-pack, but comfort is your love language.
• You want a career that demands hustle, but you rank naps above productivity.

That’s not ambition. That’s delusion.

Build the Right Operating System

Let’s play Dr. Frankenstein. If you could build the perfect person to achieve your goal, what traits would they have?

• Disciplined?
• Resourceful?
• Focused?
• Willing to eat canned tuna for a year?

Now ask: How close are you to being that person?

Here’s the good news—you don’t have to be perfect. But you do have to stop worshipping at the altar of beliefs that keep you broke, bored, or stuck.

Want to Change? Prove It.

Say you’re trying to save $20,000. That means you need to stop acting like a contestant on Supermarket Sweep every time you enter Target.

How do you build better habits?

• Pick up pennies. Yes, even when people are watching.
• Save before you spend.
• Use coupons. You’re not above it.
• Find non-shopping ways to deal with your existential crisis.

Every time you behave like someone who values progress over impulse, you reinforce that identity.

It’s not magic. It’s muscle memory.

Final Thought: Alignment > Hustle

When your goals and your beliefs are in sync, success feels (almost) effortless. When they clash, you’ll spend your life sprinting on a treadmill and calling it “grinding.”

There’s only so much resistance you can fight before you quit, burn out, or convince yourself that dreams are for other people.

So stop chasing goals you don’t believe in—or beliefs that don’t serve your goals.

Pick a side. Then run with it.