How To Actually Achieve Your Goals in 2026 (Evidence-Based)
Video Overview & Insights
Check out Hubspot's free Newsletter report here → https://clickhubspot.com/tt6o
Join the Six-Figure Lifestyle Business Masterclass on 4th May: https://go.lifestylebusiness.com/ytpmasterclass
Join the Six-Figure Lifestyle Business Masterclass on 4th May: https://go.lifestylebusiness.com/ytdmasterclass
Hope you enjoyed the video! If you fancy getting more productivity tips and practical life advice, join ProductiveNotes - my free, weekly newsletter - https://go.aliabdaal.com/productivenotes_desc
how to stay strong to success you had want:
work hard can cause success but rest a bit
how to stay patience in every bad or unfavorite moments:
think life is normal but brave a bit
(i quit my school because i have emotion disorder, i failed and i don’t you all to be like me been)
MY PRODUCTIVITY APPS
📝 Momentum: Energising Habits (iOS) - Download Here → https://go.sparkle.so/momentum/ytd
Rất hữu ích, thanks!
👻 Voicepal: AI Writing App (iOS/Android) - Download for Free → https://go.aliabdaal.com/voicepal/ytd
MY BOOK
Don't focus on goal focus on system
📕 My New York Times bestselling book Feel-Good Productivity (2,000+ 5-star reviews) https://go.feelgoodproductivity.com/amazon/yt
MY COURSES
♥
🚀 Build a $100k/year lifestyle business without quitting your day job → https://go.aliabdaal.com/lifestylebusinessytd
🧠 My Productivity System: LifeOS → https://go.aliabdaal.com/lifeos/ytd
First don't make goals then create a system for those goals wow
🤑 Grow / Monetise your YouTube Channel → https://go.aliabdaal.com/ptya/ytd
CONNECT WITH ME
This is actually awesome 👍
💌 Join LifeNotes, my weekly email where I share what I’m reading & learning: https://go.aliabdaal.com/lifenotes/yt
📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/aliabdaal
Any Bangladeshi medico here?
👨💻 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ali-abdaal/
🌍 My website / blog: https://www.aliabdaal.com/
Great video
------------
These are the stupidly simple 5 steps that I'm going to be following to help me achieve my goals in 2025. I hope they help you too! Enjoy xx
These techniques really do help, I am using them already a year, and I'll be brutally honest, the times I did not do "morning manifesto" or weekly review I was much less productive, and mostly got distracted. The thing is that at the start of everything everyone feels motivated, and you don't forget your goals, but as weeks and months pass, motivation lessens and you get caught up with other things, but doing these really helps a person to remember about their goals and focus on what is actually important.
🔗 PAPERS REFERENCED IN THIS VIDEO:
Writing down your goals - https://scholar.dominican.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=psychology-faculty-conference-presentations
great video. still informative in 2026 👌
Monitoring goal progress - https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-bul0000025.pdf
Mental contrasting - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2019.1594332
Great video and very insightful. Thank you.
Motivating voter turnout by invoking the self - https://sparq.stanford.edu/sites/g/files/sbiybj19021/files/media/file/bryan_et_al._2011_-_motivating_voter_turnout_by_invoking_the_self.pdf
⌚️Timestamps:
The WLMVT goal framework
1. Write Them Down
If you write down your goals, you are actually more than 42℅ likely to achieve them.
Goalkeeper : Quarterly quests
2 . Look At Them Every Week
Reticular Activating System (RAS)
Weekly Reset: What we're my quarterly quests and how are they going?
Morning manifesto: What we're our weekly priorities and how are they going?
3. Monitor Your Progress
Red, yellow or green
On track or off track
Things 3 app
4. Visualize Obstacles ( Make a plan)
Mental Contrasting
Visualising achieving a future goal and contrasting with the problems you might face in the process of achieving it.
Gabriel Antegan
WOOP model
Wish
Outcome
Obstacle
Plan
Axalem
Voice pal
5. Tie Them To An Identity
PNAS
Motivating voter turnout by invoking the self
Will you vote in this election? Action
Vs
Will you be a voter in this election? Identity
"The strongest force in human personality is the need to stay consistent in how we define ourselves." - Anthony Robbins
How do you define yourself?
#1 mistake - Avoid setting too many goals.
0:00 - Why I'm making this video
1:12 - 1. Write Them Down
Omg I'm so frustrated with trying to click on the video card at the end! YouTube on my TV does this new thing if showing me what's next in the queue and it's blocking me from clicking the video!
Just thought you should know haha
Imma manually find the vid. (Procrastinating goal setting with watching videos about goal setting... Hahaha)
Thanks!
4:16 - 2. Look at them every week
8:14 - 3. Monitor your Progress
“Affordable thumbnails & social media designs 🎨
DM for work”
10:31 - 4. Visualise Obstacles
12:28 - 5. Tie them to an Identity
“Affordable thumbnails & social media designs 🎨
DM for work”
PS: I donate 10% of my income to charity every year. Would you like to join me? Learn more about the 10% Pledge: https://aliabdaal.com/giving-what-we-can/
“Affordable thumbnails & social media designs 🎨
DM for work”
More User Perspectives
Loved the approach🙌
@StepUpTogether-m3fCurrently just binge watching your productivity content right now because I feel like I haven’t achieved a lot of what I set out to achieve this year so far. Really enjoying it! For some reason I wasn’t subscribed to you, even though I’ve watched your videos in the past and thought I was. Thank God for the algorithm for bringing me back to you! 😂
@podcastingwithmarthalucia“Top tier editing.”
@PhuongLinhPham-o3r“Keep it up!”
@PhuongLinhPham-o3rThank you for this video! Can you recommend apps or programs for setting goals that allow you to both monitor and also to right plans in the WOOP model and it's easy to manage and easy to follow? Thank you.
@UriSnufkinnTo set up this framework for yourself, you can follow these five core steps:
1. **Write Them Down**: The first step is to get your goals out of your head and officially record them [5].
2. **Look at them every week**: Ensure you are keeping your goals top of mind by actively reviewing them on a weekly basis [6].
3. **Monitor your Progress**: Keep track of the tangible progress you are making toward these goals over time [6].
4. **Visualise Obstacles**: Use a psychological technique called "mental contrasting" to anticipate and prepare for the specific hurdles and roadblocks you might face along the way [4, 6].
5. **Tie them to an Identity**: Connect your goals to your personal identity, a concept referred to as "invoking the self," which has been shown to increase motivation [4, 7].
Additionally, the sources note that Ali Abdaal uses a specific personal productivity system called *LifeOS* to manage his overall workflow [4].
Summary:
1. Write your Goals down: It enforces specificity, commitment and direction.
2. Break Goals into Smaller Steps: Big Goals overwhelm your Brain. Breakdown Goals into Daily Actions and Weekly Milestones.
3. Focus on Systems not Outcomes. Focus on Progress.
4. Track Your Progress: What gets measured Improves. Shows real progress and builds momentum.
5. Design Your Environment
6. Expect Failures. You will miss days and feel demotivated.
Thinking quickly and speaking quickly seems to suggest that this high performer is going to accomplish far more than what would be possible for some of us slower thinkers.
@rebekahshantz569I’m dangerously confident now. Thanks a lot.
@武田れいな-i8ujust what i was looking for, very practical
@EsraNoor-r6l4kThis made me realize my Olovka research workspace doubles as a goal tracker because the sources and drafts show progress.
@LUREYHodeGthis is exactly what i needed right now
@wankreatif1i always struggle with goals so this helps
@hippolyteakakpo892tracking habits in my oppinion is super important. maybe even the only way to successfully change over time. I like to use apps that hold me accountable (currently Velune Daily on the appstore)
@acMourلو سمحت بس حط ترجمه بالعربي لأن محتواك حلو والكل يمدحهه بس انا ما افهم انجليزي
@Ayoosh_sooshWhy not just setup a giant notion board?
@nodemonsterPoint 5 is a family theme... I had no contact with my family for many years, and now I'm a bit astonished how they celebrate their identity. I'm also very welcome as a new-found member. But I'm not allowed to talk about the issues I'm most interested in and I did most of the time in my life. And also, why I'm vegan or that I decided to quit the fight to "be a woman" and now be a nonbinary is something, well, I'm allowed to, but shouldn't talk about it and they just ignore it. Well, I'm not as sensitive as I used to be, but I see why I always felt like I'm the black sheep... And the point is, I don't like this identity thing. My identity was always to be odd (yes, I'm diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome!). I don't like having the identity to be odd, and I don't like taking over the identity of being a part of that greatness, just a not-very-good part.
@maivaka3863This video really changes the way you look at goals 🔥 It’s not just motivation, it’s a proper system backed by real evidence… writing things down and tracking progress actually makes so much sense 💯👏
@AbdulAbdul-gi7weAngus
@eze8608Fiat? Really?🥹
@eze8608Your content has helped me in personal and professional life. Thank you so much Ali
@HS-dn5uuDid Ali just change the year from 2025 to 2026 in the title? It was posted in dec 2024.
@BeatScapeAlThanks ❤
@deepakjamra5502Goal setting always felt fluffy, but the evidence framing makes it feel like a system instead of vibes.
@hassanbaba922i needed this motivation right now
@AaravTripathi-q6ifinally some real advice for once
@GogoAsel-v5nthis makes goal setting feel less overwhelming
@impQAforGovtjobsfinally some real advice for once
@Ebijohsamsongreat tips i never thought about before 👍
@RamkrishunMukhiya1Goal setting always felt fluffy, but the evidence framing makes it feel like a system instead of vibes.
@MarivoneCordeiroBritodosSantosi needed this motivation right now
@SepotokaNtwaagaeHow do you speak so cool like u don't read it you have it or say it off your head?
@GeorgeDigitalsAli, thanks for all the help! I’m new here + have watched a few videos. I love the fact that you credit sources, other people’s work, etc. I have so much respect for you for this.
@Katiemulliganyoga