Pursuing challenging goals: Is it worth it?

Like millions of viewers across the globe, I was riveted by the recent 2024 Summer Olympic Games from Paris, France. As a psychologist, I was particularly fascinated by the elation experienced by athletes who achieved their goals of winning medals—for some of them gold medals. I was equally moved by the disappointment and, in some cases, devastation experienced by other athletes who did not achieve their goals.

These events provided me with the topic of this article: Given the enormous sacrifices athletes make to pursue their Olympic dreams, is it worth it to pursue such challenging goals? In the following sections, I will discuss this issue while also alluding to people pursuing challenging goals which do not involve the Olympics.

The highs and the lows from Paris

I watched the highs and lows at the Paris Olympics. The highs included Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh winning three gold medals and a silver medal in swimming at age 17; Canadians sweeping the shot put with gold medals by Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers; Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis breaking his own world record on the third attempt; and Canada’s men’s 4 X 100-meter track relay team winning gold despite none of its members making the final of the 100-meter individual event.

The lows included defending champion and gold medal contender Damian Warner from Canada in the decathlon. He was in contention for the gold medal until the pole vault–the eighth of 10 events. Disaster struck when Mr. Warner failed to clear his opening height on three attempts. He scored 0 points to eliminate himself from contention for any medal.

Disappointment also befell Canadian Sarah Mitton, a gold medal contender in the shot put. She failed to qualify for the final after throwing well short of her capabilities on her first two throws and fouling on her final effort. Canadian medal contender Mo Ahmed failed to qualify for the final of the 5000 meters after falling on the track in the heats. 1500-meter run favourite Jacob Ingebrigtsen of Norway finished out of the medals by being passed in the finishing stretch after leading most of the race. Unlike the other athletes I mentioned, Ingebrigtsen was able to alleviate his disappointment later in the Games by winning the gold medal in the 5000-meter run.

In the aftermath of these highs and lows of the Olympic Games, the question arises as to whether it is worth it to pursue challenging goals. I will discuss this question in the following sections.

Using cost-benefit analysis to decide whether to pursue a goal

Using cost-benefit analysis is helpful to decide whether it is worth it to pursue a challenging goal such as winning an Olympic medal. It can also be helpful in determining whether it was worth it to pursue a goal after the pursuit has ended with success or failure in achieving the goal.

Costs of pursuing a challenging goal like winning an Olympic medal include time, effort, physical and mental stress, and sacrifices of various kinds. Benefits include feelings of elation, pride and fulfilment from accomplishing a challenging goal along with positive reactions from family, friends and the public. In some instances, success in pursuing an Olympic goal can also bring financial rewards and career opportunities.

Deciding whether to pursue such a challenging goal first depends on whether these benefits are worth expending such costs to attain. If the answer is no, you would probably decide not to pursue the goal. If the answer is yes, deciding to pursue the goal would then depend on your assessment of the probability that you could achieve the goal and obtain the benefits.

For example, in deciding whether to train for the Olympics, the athlete may consider their recent performances and world rankings in determining whether they have a reasonable chance to achieve their Olympic goal—whether it is of making the Olympics, qualifying for the final of their event, winning a medal or becoming an Olympic champion. If you determine that you have a good chance of achieving your goal and you have also concluded that the benefits of achieving your goal are worth withstanding the costs to attain them, the more it makes sense that you should pursue the goal.

An additional factor in the analysis: Challenging goals are double-edged swords

Even if you have determined that the benefits of achieving your goal are worth enduring the costs to obtain them and you have concluded that you have a good chance of achieving your goal, you may still think twice before deciding to pursue your goal. The reason is that challenging goals are double-edged swords. That is, the difficulty in achieving them makes them exciting to pursue but also leads to achieving them being an inherently uncertain prospect.

This means that, even if the evidence indicates that you have a good chance of achieving your goal, it is not certain that you will achieve it and the possibility of failure is real. I have already provided several examples from the most recent Olympics of athletes who failed to achieve their goals despite the evidence indicating they had an excellent chance of doing so.

There are countless other such examples from sports and other endeavours in which people pursue goals. People often pursue careers or start businesses which don’t work out despite it having made sense at the time to embark on these goals. Many marriages end after appearing to have good prospects for success leading up to the decision of the partners to get engaged. On a personal note, I changed my career path to psychology after failing at my initial choice of journalism. I also had to drop out of two marathons and an Ironman triathlon for which I had trained hard for several months.

So, the distinct possibility of failing to achieve your goal and the accompanying disappointment/devastation must be considered as a possible cost before deciding to invest the time, effort and sacrifices necessary to work toward your goal. There is no way around this factor. That is, choosing an easy goal in which you are very likely to succeed removes the prospect of failure and its difficult emotional aftermath. However, the ease with which you succeed means that you are unlikely to be excited about pursuing the goal and will not have excitement and pride when you have achieved it. For these reasons, most people do not invest time, effort and sacrifices in pursuit of goals which are not challenging.

Are challenging goals worth pursuing even though you may not achieve them?

To recap: You are deciding whether to pursue a goal about which you are excited. The benefits appear to make it worth expending the time, effort and sacrifices to achieve it, and you have concluded that there is a good possibility that you can achieve it. Should the fact that there is also the possibility of failure and accompanying disappointment lead you to decide not to pursue the goal?

My first answer to this question may sound like a cop-out: It depends. Before I would advise anyone that it makes sense to pursue a goal I would want to know those facts. For example, if the costs of failure in pursuing a goal entailed significant financial hardship, it may make sense not to pursue the goal even if the evidence was that they had a good chance of achieving it. Of course, scenarios like this would be considered when deciding whether the benefits of pursuing the goal outweigh the actual and potential costs.

But speaking generally, for instances in which the negative consequences of failing to achieve the goal are coping with emotions like disappointment, my answer is that you should not let this possibility deter you from pursuing a challenging goal which excites you and which the evidence indicates you have a good chance of achieving.

There are three reasons for my position on this matter. One is that emotions like disappointment after failing to achieve a goal are real, unpleasant, and sometimes painful but they are temporary. Their intensities peak when you realize that you have not achieved your goal and then they subside over time until your mood improves to its previous state.

A second reason I think people should pursue challenging goals despite the possibility that they may not succeed is that you may achieve your goal. And as hard as the difficult emotions are to experience if you fail, the feelings you experience if you succeed are wonderful. I can state from experience in achieving my goals in marathons, Ironman triathlons, long-distance swims as well as educational and career goals that the great feelings when you succeed make it worth the risk of experiencing the bad feelings when you fail.

Finally, the third and perhaps most important reason I encourage people to pursue challenging goals despite the possibility that they may fail is the excitement and passion which they derive from pursuing their goals. In contrast with the positive feelings you experience when you achieve your goals which are temporary, the positive feelings you experience as you work toward your goals are an ongoing part of your life.

That is why pursuing goals is a recommended activity in people’s mental health routine. Other things being equal, people are less likely to be depressed, more likely to think positively about themselves and better able to manage stress and anxiety if they are pursuing goals.

Taking the next steps after you determine whether you have achieved your goal

Whether you are basking in great feelings after achieving your goal or are struggling with disappointment from failing to achieve your goal, the next steps eventually include deciding which goal you want to pursue next. This is among the next steps after achieving a goal because the positive feelings from the achievement will subside. Generating excitement by deciding on a new goal will help you to fill this void.

Setting a new goal will also help you to rebound emotionally after failing to achieve a goal. Doing so helped me to get back on track emotionally after I dropped out of the 2016 Ironman competition in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I decided that my next goal was to return to Coeur d’Alene for the 2017 Ironman.  The excitement returned as I pursued this goal. Thanks to adjustments I made in my electrolyte-replacement plan on the advice of my coach, this time I enjoyed the highs from achieving my goal of finishing the event in the allotted time.

The bottom line: Playing it safe is not the right move

At first glance, it may make sense to play it safe by not pursuing challenging goals. This spares you the disappointment which comes when, at some point, you have failed to achieve one or more of your goals.

But playing it safe by choosing not to pursue any challenging goals comes at a big price. You deprive yourself of the chance of achieving your goals which comes with some of the best feelings you will ever experience. You also miss out on the ongoing benefits to your mood and self-esteem of pursuing goals.

Therefore, I recommend that people pursue goals whether or not they involve the Olympics. My advice is supported by a character in one of my favourite movies. I have watched Rudy many times because I am inspired by the title character’s perseverance in striving toward the challenging goal of attending the University of Notre Dame and playing on their renowned football team.

After Rudy’s best friend Pete gives him a Notre Dame jacket for his birthday, Rudy thanks him and remarks, “You’re the only one who took me serious, Pete”. Pete replies, “Well you know what my dad always said: Having dreams is what makes life tolerable”. Pete’s comment captures the essence of the psychological benefits of pursuing goals.

May you reap the benefits of pursuing challenging goals,

-Dr. Pat