Article image

13 Motivating Quotes To Help You Accomplish Your Goals

Some days the motivation we need to accomplish our goals flows effortlessly: Meet that deadline. Climb that mountain. Chase that dream. Other days, making the smallest move toward an objective can feel impossible.

It’s easy to get stuck in a demoralizing cycle of self-doubt, avoidance, or fear. Instead of moving forward, we hit the snooze button, scroll a little longer, and put things off until tomorrow.

As it turns out, there’s even some science to back up why we do this. According to one study, in the early stages of pursuing our goals, we’re propelled by an initial boost of inspiration, resulting in a surge of motivation. But as we continue making progress, our focus often shifts to the mounting responsibilities and fear of negative outcomes.

It's often this fear that halts our progress, but motivation can reemerge once we make the choice to continue down our ambitious paths in spite of our trepidation. Perhaps the choice to read this collection of enduring quotes will act as that needed next step, the breeze in your sails to push you toward the treasure you seek.

It doesn't matter when you start, it doesn't matter what anyone else is doing. All that matters is that you truly follow your own path, your own way, at your own pace. Be kind to yourself and others, and follow your intuition always. That is real bravery.
Diana Schneider

Share Quote

Maybe you have a little voice inside that says you aren’t strong enough to handle what life’s left at your feet. That voice lies. Prove it wrong today — then repeat, repeat, repeat. Keep moving.
Maggie Smith

Share Quote

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Frederick Douglass

Share Quote

Sometimes the future changes quickly and completely, and we’re left with only the choice of what to do next. We can choose to be afraid of it. Just stand there trembling, not moving, assuming the worst that can happen. Or we step forward into the unknown, and assume it will be brilliant.
Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) in “Grey’s Anatomy”

Share Quote

Just remember, you can do anything you set your mind to, but it takes action, perseverance, and facing your fears.
Gillian Anderson

Share Quote

All success in life starts within you. You know what to do. You know how to do it. Your next step is simple. You are the first domino.
Gary W. Keller

Share Quote

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.
Rosa Parks

Share Quote

Obstacles can't stop you. Problems can't stop you. Most of all, other people can't stop you. Only you can stop you.
Jeffrey Gitomer

Share Quote

Many strokes, though with a little axe, / Hew down and fell the hardest-timber'd oak.
William Shakespeare

Share Quote

Motivation is a battle for the heart, not just an appeal to the mind. Passion is always an expression of the soul.
Patrick Dixon

Share Quote

Sometimes we just have to leap and then grow our wings in midair. And if we indeed collapse onto the ground before us, a fall is still forward motion.
Robin Roberts

Share Quote

When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you till it seems as if you couldn't hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that's just the place and time that the tide'll turn.
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Share Quote

When life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming.
Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) in “Finding Nemo”

Share Quote

Featured image credit: Vera Anderson/ WireImage via Getty Images

Author image
About the Author
Kelley J. Leigh
Kelley J. Leigh is a creative non-fiction writer and mixed-media artist based in Seattle, Washington.
Play more header background
Play more icon
Daily Question
Fill in the blank: "The struggle, like life itself, should be ___." - Miriam Miranda

More Inspiration

happiness theme icon

What counts is not the things that happen, but what we do with them.

separator icon
Annie Ernaux
motivation theme icon

Take a canvas. Put a mark on it. Put another mark on it.

separator icon
Jasper Johns
hope theme icon

Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it.

separator icon
Gilda Radner
love theme icon

We are all born worthy. Worthy of love, worthy of success.

separator icon
Jamie Lee Curtis
wisdom theme icon

Vulnerability is like a connector... it connects you to the rest of the world.

separator icon
Phil Stutz
happiness theme icon

The best advice I ever got when I was starting out: Never give up. And I never did.

separator icon
Rita Moreno
motivation theme icon

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.

separator icon
Rainer Maria Rilke
hope theme icon

Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.

separator icon
Epictetus
love theme icon

Walls turned sideways are bridges.

separator icon
Angela Davis
wisdom theme icon

I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way.

separator icon
Carl Sandburg
happiness theme icon

The only thing we can do is honestly learn from our falls.

separator icon
Ai Weiwei