Setting goals is important for people of all ages, no matter how big or small the goal. We all need some encouragement to help us turn our dreams into a reality. Try some goal setting with your class with this list of our favorite goal-setting quotes, perfect for using as writing or discussion prompts.
Our Favorite Goal-Setting Quotes
“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” —Albert Einstein
“Reach high, for stars lie hidden in you. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.” —Rabindranath Tagore
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” —Robert H. Schuller
“In order to know where you’re headed, you must be aware of your own personal goals.” —Brian Cagneey
“The world’s greatest achievers have been those who have always stayed focused on their goals and have been consistent in their efforts.” —Dr. Roopleen
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“People with goals succeed because they know where they are going.” —Earl Nightingale
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” —Tony Robbins
“Always stay true to yourself, and never let what somebody says distract you from your goals.” —Michelle Obama
“A year from now, you may wish you had started today.” —Karen Lamb
“However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” —Stephen Hawking
“If you’re bored with life, if you don’t get up every morning with a burning desire to do things, you don’t have enough goals.” —Lou Holtz
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.” —Andrew Carnegie
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” —Bill Copeland
“One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” —Michael Korda
“You can do anything if you set goals. You just have to push yourself.” —RJ Mitte
“You should set goals beyond your reach so you always have something to live for.” —Ted Turner
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” —Lawrence J. Peter
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” —C.S. Lewis
“It’s harder to stay on top than it is to make the climb. Continue to seek new goals.” —Pat Summitt
“I am always more interested in what I am about to do than what I have already done.” —Rachel Carson
“One part at a time, one day at a time, we can accomplish any goal we set for ourselves.” —Karen Casey
“The great glorious masterpiece of man is to know how to live with purpose.” —Michel de Montaigne
“Your goal should be just out of reach but not out of sight.” —Remi Witt
“Aim at the sun, and you may not reach it; but your arrow will fly far higher than if aimed at an object on a level with yourself.” —J. Howes
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” —Steve Jobs
“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” —Stephen King
“Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.” —George Whitefield
“Every twist and turn in life is an opportunity to learn something new about yourself, your interests, your talents, and how to set and then achieve goals.” —Jameela Jamil
“With consistency and reps and routine, you’re going to achieve your goals and get where you want to be.” —Mandy Rose
“No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one.” —Jessica Savitch
“I believe in the saying, ‘If you aim at nothing, you’re going to hit nothing.’ So if you don’t set goals, then you have nowhere to go.” —Taylor Lautner
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action step.” —Confucius
“If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you.” —Les Brown
“If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.” —Jim Rohn
“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
“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.” —Orison Swett Marden
“It is not enough to take steps which may someday lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Without dreams and goals, there is no living, only merely existing, and that is not why we are here.” —Mark Twain
“My goal is not to be better than anyone else but to be better than I used to be.” —Wayne Dyer
“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
“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
“Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself.” —Denis Waitley
“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action makes your dreams come true.” —Greg S. Reid
“The real value of setting and achieving goals lies not in the rewards you receive but in the person you become as a result of reaching your goals.” —Robin Sharma
“Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless.” —Tim Blixseth
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” —Sir Edmund Hillary
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” —Zig Ziglar
“Goals transform a random walk into a chase.” —Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
“Success is the progressive realization of predetermined, worthwhile, personal goals.” —Paul J. Meyer
“Becoming a star may not be your destiny, but being the best you can be is a goal that you can set for yourself.” —Brian Lindsay
“The victory of success is half won when one gains the habit of setting goals and achieving them.” —Og Mandino
“This one step—choosing a goal and sticking to it—changes everything.” —Scott Reed
“Goals are the fuel in the furnace of achievement.” —Brian Tracy
“Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.” —Kenichi Ohmae
“Begin with the end in mind.” —Stephen Covey
“Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground.” —Theodore Roosevelt
“Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the kind of person who can.” —Anonymous
“Every day you spend drifting away from your goals is a waste not only of that day, but also of the additional day it takes to regain lost ground.” —Ralph Marston
“In all things that you do, consider the end.” —Solon
“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” —Japanese Proverb
“Envision, create, and believe in your own universe, and the universe will form around you.” —Tony Hsieh
“A good goal is like a strenuous exercise—it makes you stretch.” —Mary Kay Ash
“Intention without action is an insult to those who expect the best from you.” —Andy Andrews
“You cannot change your destination overnight, but you can change your direction overnight.” —Jim Rohn
“A good archer is known not by his arrows but by his aim.” —Thomas Fuller
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” —Jim Rohn
“Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ballpark.” —David Ogilvy
“People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” —Earl Nightingale
If you liked these goal-setting quotes, check out our Motivational Quotes for Students of All Ages.
Plus, come share your favorite goal-setting quotes for students in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook!
