Why do many people fail to take any action on their goals?
Goals they really desire at the core of their being? Goals that would completely transform their lives if they could be achieved?
A very common reason is the mismatch between short-term emotions and long-term desires.
When you set a huge, meaningful goal for yourself, it’s going to need real work and isn’t going to filled with constant pleasure and enjoyable moments.
Because of this, your short-term emotions have a high tendency to work against you and create resistance.
It’s the part of you that doesn’t care about your goals or your future — it just wants to feel good in the moment. Your “lower self”.
To avoid self-sabotage, we have to learn how to acknowledge this part of us and work with it, instead of fighting against it.
An ideal Humanist knows how to align their short-term emotions with their goals and values and their ideal way of living.
One powerful way to handle the resistance from this lower self is to break your goal into missions so tiny that it’s almost impossible to say no.
Think of your goal as a game made up of micro-quests. Instead of “write a book”, your first mission might be “write one sentence.” Instead of “get fit,” it could be “do one pushup.” That’s it. The key is to make your missions ridiculously small — so easy that your brain can’t come up with excuses.
Once you complete a mission, immediately reward yourself. Listen to a favorite song, stretch, grab a snack, or take a short walk.
These small celebrations can signal to your brain that progress is enjoyable — that effort equals pleasure, not pain. Over time, this rewires your motivation loop: the more consistent your missions and the more consistent your rewards, the easier the action becomes.
What happens next is magical. The mental barrier that kept you from starting begins to dissolve. You stop overthinking and simply begin. And once you start, momentum makes things much easier with time.
Writing one sentence leads to another. One pushup turns into ten. One step forward becomes a full-blown routine.
So if you’ve been stuck on a goal — fitness, writing, studying, or anything else — don’t try to conquer it in one go.
Make it laughably small, reward yourself for progress, and see where the momentum and consistency takes you.
Your reluctance to start can vanish when you see how easy it is to complete that first mission. The hardest part of success isn’t finishing — it’s beginning. And with this trick, beginning becomes effortless.