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37 Quotes on Reaching Life and Leadership Goals

by ConantLeadership | Apr 23, 2026

This post was originally published in October 2016, and was updated with new content and bonus quotes in April 2026.

Leadership is a choice. And with that choice comes the need to consistently refresh your goals, mindset, and resilience. Each day, people count on you to lead with integrity and keep them on track. Yes, this work is exhilarating. But it can quickly become exhausting without a deep commitment to continuous improvement on your personal leadership journey through reflection, practice, and study.

Feeling overwhelmed by the responsibilities of leadership can happen to the best of us. What will set you apart, however, is the willingness and resolve to do something about it. When you need a wake-up call or a dose of motivation, remind yourself that the choice to lead (and how to do it) is yours. One thing that’s immensely helpful for building grit and tenacity in leadership is to learn from the peers, colleagues, and leaders who came before you, across professions and spheres of influence. Let these quotes on reaching life and leadership goals be your catalyst.

1. 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

2. The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential . . . these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. – Confucius

3. Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. – Oprah

4. The most important thing in life is, if you have a dream, I mean a real good dream, follow it. – Evel Knievel

5. Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success. – Pablo Picasso

“Passion alone can’t cut it. For passion to survive it needs structure.”

6. One of the lessons that I grew up with was to always stay true to yourself and never let what somebody else says distract you from your goals. – Michelle Obama

7. People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar

8. He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammad Ali

9. If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it’s moving you away from your goals. – Brian Tracy

10. It is not sacrifice if you love what you’re doing. – Mia Hamm

11. To become the kind of person you want to become, you’ve got to have discipline. It’s easier to keep to your standards 100 percent of the time versus 98 percent of the time. – Clay Christensen

12. To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. – James Allen

13. Surrounding yourself with people who are actively and enthusiastically working toward their best futures will keep you moving toward your own goals. – Leah Busque

14. I would say to you, have faith in yourself – believe in what you are doing, and, most important, be a person of integrity. It is totally up to you, and no one else, how your life evolves. – Jon Huntsman Sr.

15. You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and work hard for it. – Lionel Messi

16. Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. – John Wooden

17. Each day, you can awake and focus on small, easy goals you can accomplish in the short term—goals that, over time, will lead you to your long-term goal. – Karen Salmansohn

18. I truly believe that if you put your goals in writing, speak them out loud and work for them, they will happen. – Ciara

19. Goals are pure fantasy unless you have a specific plan to achieve them. – Stephen Covey

20. Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you. – Misty Copeland

“Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.”

21. Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion. – Jack Welch

22. Set realistic goals, keep re-evaluating, and be consistent. – Venus Williams

23. The thing that I learned early on is you really need to set goals in your life, both short-term and long-term, just like you do in business. Having that long-term goal will enable you to have a plan on how to achieve it. – Denise Morrison

24. The only way to improve is to set yourself harder goals. – Joanne Whalley

25. If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable. – Seneca

26. Perfectionism is not the same thing as striving to be our best. Perfectionism is not about healthy achievement and growth; it’s a shield. – Brené Brown

27. A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. – General Colin Powell

28. Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground. – Theodore Roosevelt

29. Bravery is the engine of change. – Aisha Tyler

30. Our thoughts create our reality—where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go. – Peter McWilliams

31. Some goals are not going to fulfill you. Choose goals that you value and care about. – Henry Cloud

32. If the vision is there, the means will follow. – Faith Popcorn

33. You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside. – Wayne Dyer

34. Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. – Walt Whitman

35. Though we may have desires or bold goals, for whatever reason, most of us don’t think we can achieve something beyond what we’re qualified to achieve. Why, I ask, do we let reality interfere with our dreams? – Simon Sinek

36. The only way you survive is you continuously transform into something else. It’s this idea of continuous transformation that makes you an innovation company. – Ginni Rometty

37. Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. – Napoleon Hill

Bonus: 6 New Quotes on Reaching Life and Leadership Goals

1. Your entire life changes the day that you decide you will no longer accept mediocrity for yourself.”– Hal Elrod

2. You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending. – James R. Sherman

3. It is possible to be proud of how far you have come while knowing you are still becoming. – Morgan Harper Nichols

4. Passion alone can’t cut it. For passion to survive it needs structure. A why without how has little probability of success. – Simon Sinek

5. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress. – James Clear

6. When you reach for the stars, you are reaching for the farthest thing out there. When you reach deep into yourself, it is the same thing, but in the opposite direction. If you reach in both directions, you will have spanned the universe. – Vera Nazarian

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Feeling inspired? Today, commit to taking just one step to grow as a leader. Here’s what we recommend: Check our our LinkedIn Learning Course, “Finding Your Leadership Purpose with Doug Conant,” or enroll in the next Blueprint Leadership Boot Camp, or explore our STEPS Leadership Course for Administrative Professionals. And be sure to join our email list to receive newsletters and updates about how to win in work and life.

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