What kind of person can achieve this goal?
Identify the traits your goal requires before pursuing it.
To reach any goal, start by focusing on who you need to become. Your identity can either pull you forward or hold you back. Picture your goal, then work backward. Ask yourself:
🤔 What kind of person can achieve this goal?
🤔 What traits define that person?
To answer these questions, dig into the points below to uncover the traits that will enable you to achieve your goal.
👉 Look for past friction points. Reflect on times when you pursued similar goals and ran into challenges, got stuck, or procrastinated. These experiences reveal which traits, such as confidence, focus, or consistency, you may need to develop. You can also reflect on past successes to notice which traits helped you achieve results.
👉 Ask mentors or peers. Talk to people who have achieved the goal you’re aiming for and find out which personal qualities made the biggest difference for them. Ask also which traits they wish they had developed sooner.
👉 Study people who’ve achieved similar goals. Read interviews, listen to podcasts, or watch videos of them in action to see which specific traits helped them succeed. For example, if your goal is to run a business, notice how successful founders stay disciplined, make tough decisions, and handle setbacks.
👉 Reflect on the motivation for your goal. Ask yourself why you want to achieve it. Your reason can reveal the traits you’ll need to succeed. For example, if your goal is to start a community project because you want to help others, traits like empathy, patience, and persistence will be important.
👉 Reverse-engineer the process. Break your goal into milestones and ask what kind of person could complete each one. This reveals traits such as patience, courage, or discipline that are needed to make consistent progress.
Some traits might only become clear when you test yourself. Taking on small challenges can show which traits need work. Leading a small project can reveal if you need more patience or resilience, while giving a short talk can show if you need to build more confidence or adaptability.
Required traits are like the essential tools for a builder’s project. Any missing tools have to be obtained to get the job done.
After pinpointing the traits needed for success, describe the person who embodies them and is capable of achieving your goal. Write it down by completing the sentence:
A person who achieves this goal is someone who…
For example:
👉 A person who runs a successful business is someone who is decisive, resilient, and open-minded.
👉 A person who gets in great shape is someone who is disciplined, patient, and self-motivated.
👉 A person who builds a strong relationship is someone who is empathetic, honest, and willing to communicate openly.
To make this exercise more actionable, write down some concrete behaviors that you want to put into action for each trait. For example:
👉 Disciplined: stick to a weekly workout schedule
👉 Empathetic: listen attentively and respond with understanding during conversations
👉 Resilient: bounce back quickly after setbacks
🎉👏🎈
Achieving a goal means becoming the person who can meet its demands. Identify the traits that matter and start building them.
