Essentials: How to Set & Achieve Goals

Huberman Lab

Scicomm Media

Life Sciences, Science, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 26.2K Ratings

🗓️ 18 December 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explain how to use science-based tools to better set and achieve goals. I discuss the neuroscience of goal pursuit and how dopamine and visual attention shape motivation and effort. I explain whether visualizing success or failure better supports goal pursuit, how to choose goals at the right level of difficulty and evaluate progress. I also share a short “space-time bridging” protocol that helps train long-range, goal-directed behavior. These tools will help you stay motivated and reach goals more effectively. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman David: https://davidprotein.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:00) Goal Setting (00:00:23) Brain & Goal Pursuit (00:03:32) Goal Value, Action Steps (00:05:49) Sponsor: David (00:07:07) Peripersonal vs Extrapersonal Space (00:08:34) Tool: Visual Focus & Pursuing Goals (00:13:04) Visualization & Goal Pursuit, Tool: Visualize Failure (00:15:25) Sponsor: AG1 (00:16:48) Tool: Goal Setting & Difficulty Level (00:18:27) Dopamine & Goal Pursuit, Reward Prediction Error, Tool: Weekly Goal Assessment (00:23:39) Dopamine & Vision; Importance of Behavioral Tools (00:25:37) Recap of Tools for Goal Setting & Pursuit (00:26:49) Sponsor: LMNT (00:28:21) Goal Pursuit, Time; Tool: Space-Time Bridging (00:35:49) Recap, Key Takeaways Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials,
0:02.0	where we revisit past episodes
0:04.0	for the most potent and actionable science-based tools
0:07.0	for mental health, physical health, and performance.
0:12.0	I'm Andrew Huberman, and I'm a professor of neurobiology
0:14.0	and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine.
0:17.0	Today we're talking all about goals
0:19.0	and the science of goal setting and achieving your goals.
0:22.8	So when we think about goal seeking and the pursuit of goals of any kind in the brain, it doesn't matter what the goal is.
0:29.9	It involves a common set of neural circuits.
0:33.6	One of the brain areas is the so-called amygdala.
0:35.8	The amygdala is most often associated with fear.
0:38.2	So you might say, wow, how is that involved in goal-directed behavior?
0:41.8	Well, a lot of our goal-directed behavior is to avoid punishments, including things like
0:46.6	embarrassment or financial ruin or things of that sort.
0:50.4	And so the amygdala and some sense of anxiety or fear is actually built in to the circuits that generate goal seeking
0:57.0	and our motivation to pursue goals.
0:59.0	The other areas are the so-called eventual striatum.
1:03.0	The striatum is part of what's called the basal ganglia.
1:06.0	The basal ganglia is a neural circuit
1:08.0	that can very simply be described
1:10.0	as a neural circuit that helps us simply be described as a neural circuit
	...

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