Stop Setting Goals and Start Living Without Limits | Emmanuel Acho

The Daily Motivation

Lewis Howes

Self-improvement, Education

4.8 • 963 Ratings

🗓️ 5 June 2026

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Summary

Emmanuel Acho tore his quad off the bone mid-40-yard dash at the NFL Combine — on ESPN, every scout in the building watching — and what broke that day wasn't just his body, it was his belief in goal-setting. He makes the case that goals are a trap: at best they cap you, at worst they crater your self-worth, and there's a better way to aim.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, my name is Lewis Howes and welcome to the Daily Motivation Show.
0:09.5	For someone who has a gap in their imagination, they see a future that they want to create.
0:18.6	They see an idea, a vision, a goal, whatever you want to call it.
0:23.1	But they don't know how to become the Velcro and bridge it to get to the other side.
0:28.1	What has been your thoughts or your philosophy and your advice on how to accomplish, set, and achieve goals?
0:34.8	Man, I love that question.
0:37.6	I love that question. I love that question.
0:40.4	Dude, I don't believe in goals.
0:42.7	Okay.
0:43.2	I no longer believe in goals.
0:45.3	Crazy because I know we're told for so long, set a goal, write it down, live by it.
0:50.8	True story, y'all, maybe one of the most depressing moments of my life.
0:56.6	After my junior year playing football at the University of Texas, Texas is a top flight
1:00.9	college football program at the time, I submitted my name to go to the NFL draft. I wanted to
1:06.2	go professionally after three years. But I got back from the NFL a report. Emmanuel, you will not be drafted in rounds one through three. You will be drafted in rounds four through seven. There are seven total rounds in the NFL draft for those watching and eventually listening. I'm not going in the fourth through seventh round. I'll come back for my senior year. Oh, it's a junior year. Junior year.
1:28.3	Gotcha. So what I said was this. I took that sheet of paper that said a manual, you won't be drafted in rounds one through three, and I highlighted that line, you won't be drafted in rounds one through three, and I hung it above my bed, and I put one of those little sticks through the wall and the paper in my bed. I looked at it every morning I woke up and every night before I went to sleep.
1:46.6	You know what they say about goals. sticks through the wall and the paper in my bed. I looked at it every morning I woke up and
1:45.0	every night before I went to sleep. You know what they say about goals. Look at them, commit them to
1:49.6	memory. Well, while at the NFL Combine, I'm running my 40 at the conclusion of my senior year,
1:56.1	the NFL Combine, again, for those watching, listening, it is the ultimate job interview if you want to go to the
2:01.5	NFL. I'm running a 40-yard dash, which will dictate essentially where I will be drafted.
2:06.5	What rounder in, yeah. Exactly. If I'm running, I'm running, I hear this. Boom, boom, boom. I thought my heels were
	...

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