Harvard Researchers Found The Secret to Staying Consistent—And Actually Achieving Your Goals

The Liz Moody Podcast

Liz Moody

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Education, Mental Health

4.8 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this solo episode, I explore The Progress Principle, a concept discovered by two Harvard researchers who studied what really drives happiness and motivation. After analyzing thousands of daily journal entries, they found that the single biggest factor that keeps people inspired isn’t recognition, money, or praise—it’s the feeling of making progress. In this episode, I share how the tiniest forward motion sends a signal to the brain that says, “This feels good, do it again.” This isn’t just a nice mindset trick— it’s a complete rewiring of your brain’s reward system. Our brains are generally wired to miss our own progress. We adapt so quickly to improvements that yesterday’s dream becomes today’s baseline. We also have a negativity bias; our minds cling to what’s not working instead of what is. The result? We feel stuck, unmotivated, or like we’re not doing enough, even when we’re growing in extraordinary ways. I share exactly how to override that mental wiring with simple, science-backed tools so you can stay consistent and actually achieve your goals. What You’ll Learn: Why dopamine isn’t about reward-it’s about momentum. The “Done List” method that helps you reflect on and record your daily micro wins. How celebration strengthens new habits by pairing progress with positive emotion. Why asking someone else to reflect on your growth can transform your self-perception. How to reframe the “arrival fallacy” so you find joy in the journey, not just the finish line. I’ll also walk you through my own story! How a conversation with my therapist sister changed how I think about effort and self-worth, and how acknowledging my small wins made me feel more capable, calm, and genuinely proud of my progress for the first time in years. If you’ve ever felt like you’re spinning your wheels, constantly setting goals and falling off track, or measuring yourself against an impossible version of success, this episode is for you. ✨ Homework: Pause for a moment today and write down three small things you’ve accomplished…no matter how ordinary they seem. Maybe you sent an email you’ve been avoiding, made a healthy meal, or got out of bed on a hard morning. That’s progress. That’s growth. That’s the chemistry of momentum in real time. 👇 Tell me in the comments: What’s one micro win you’re celebrating this week? Ready to uplevel every part of your life? Order Liz’s book 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success now! Connect with Liz on Instagram @lizmoody or online at www.lizmoody.com. Subscribe to the substack by visiting https://lizmoody.substack.com/welcome. Buy our cute sweatshirts, conversation cards, and more at https://shop.lizmoody.com/. Use our discount codes from our highly vetted and tested brand partners by visiting https://www.lizmoody.com/codes. To join The Liz Moody Podcast Club Facebook group, go to www.facebook.com/groups/thelizmoodypodcast. This episode is brought to you completely free thanks to the following podcast sponsors: Puori: go to Puori.com/LizMoody and use promo code LIZMOODY for up to 20% sitewide. OneSkin: head to OneSkin.co and use the code LIZ for 15% off your purchase. The Liz Moody Podcast cover art by Zack. The Liz Moody Podcast music by Alex Ruimy. Formerly the Healthier Together Podcast. This podcast and website represents the opinions of Liz Moody and her guests to the show. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for information purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions.The Liz Moody Podcast Episode 376. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's one huge science-backed hack for achieving your goals and creating your dream life
0:04.5	that we are not talking about enough. It is the difference between feeling incredibly powerful and
0:09.4	motivated and feeling burnt out and depressed. It's the difference between being consistent with
0:15.1	new habits and trying them out for a few days or weeks before falling off of the routine. And the best
0:20.7	news is you can do it
0:22.0	right now no matter who you are or where you are in your life. Welcome to the Liz Moody podcast
0:27.5	where we share science-back tools and tips to empower you to live your best life, but we do it in a way
0:32.6	that's fun that makes space for emotions and vulnerability and the realities of our actual lives.
0:42.0	I have a zillion therapist in my life. My dad is a therapist. My mom is a therapist. Zach's dad
0:48.1	was a therapist. Zach's mom is a therapist. My aunt is a therapist. My sister is a therapist.
0:59.0	This arguably has some interesting impacts on my life.
1:04.9	But one of the best, best, best parts of it is that I am constantly getting to just drink in all of this incredible therapist wisdom that they had to go to school for years to get. And one day,
1:10.0	this was maybe a year ago, I was on a
1:12.0	hike with my sister and I was telling her how hard I found it to motivate myself to have a
1:16.7	great morning routine, which science clearly shows is really, really helpful for setting the tone
1:21.5	for the day that we want to have. And she stopped in the middle of the trail and she said to me,
1:26.9	have you been tracking what you have
1:29.0	accomplished? She explained to me that this is a huge part of the secret sauce of therapy.
1:34.7	Therapists track your progress over time and then they reflect that progress back to you.
1:41.2	Acknowledging and celebrating that progress is a really necessary part of motivation.
1:45.9	And yet, most of us are not doing that at all. And this isn't just something that therapists do.
1:51.7	It is backed by incredible Harvard research. So let's get into that. And then I will share some
	...

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