Summary: A comprehensive review of 235 studies finds that persisting with unattainable goals harms mental and physical wellbeing—raising stress and lowering life satisfaction—while letting go of such goals and actively pursuing new, achievable objectives improves mood, resilience, and overall psychological health.
The review highlights a wide range of influences, from personality and coping style to social support and life history, that determine how easily people can change course. These findings indicate that flexibility, rather than blind persistence, is often the healthier long-term strategy for personal development.
Key Facts:
- Quitting Can Help: Giving up goals that are no longer attainable is linked to lower stress, anxiety and depression.
- Reengagement Restores Wellbeing: Adopting new, realistic goals helps restore a sense of purpose, satisfaction and resilience.
- Adjustment Is Multifaceted: Motivation, coping strategies, relationships, health and life experiences all influence how people disengage from and reengage with goals.
Source: Curtin University
New research led by Curtin University, published in Nature Human Behaviour, synthesizes evidence from 235 studies and more than 1,400 effect sizes across psychology, health and social sciences to understand what happens when people face obstacles to important goals.
The meta-analytic review shows that when people persist in striving toward goals that have become unattainable, they tend to experience poorer wellbeing. In contrast, disengaging from those goals and reengaging with new, attainable aims is associated with improved psychological outcomes and life satisfaction.
Lead author Dr Hugh Riddell from the Curtin School of Population Health emphasizes that quitting is not necessarily a sign of failure. “Continuing to chase impossible goals can exact a real toll—raising stress levels, undermining wellbeing, and even contributing to physical health problems,” Dr Riddell said. “But stepping away from an unattainable aim and deliberately taking up new objectives can restore a sense of purpose and improve overall wellbeing.”
The study finds that people’s ability to adjust their goals depends on many factors. Personality traits, motivational drives, coping style, the quality of social support, health status, and formative life experiences all influence whether someone disengages, reengages, or adapts how they pursue goals.
“There is no single approach that fits everyone,” Dr Riddell noted. “Different combinations of personal and contextual factors affect how people manage goal setbacks. Flexibility—changing strategies or targets while maintaining a forward focus—appears to help people remain resilient even when their original plans fall through.”
The authors stress the need for further research to pinpoint when it is better to persevere and when to change course. “Determining the right balance—so people do not give up too early but also do not suffer from futile persistence—is the next step,” Dr Riddell added.
Key Questions Answered:
A: Persisting with goals that cannot realistically be achieved is linked to higher stress, greater anxiety and increased depressive symptoms.
A: Letting go of unattainable goals and reengaging with new, achievable goals helps restore meaning, satisfaction and emotional stability.
A: Factors such as motivation, coping style, social support, health, age and life experiences influence the likelihood of disengagement, reengagement and flexible goal pursuit.
Editorial Notes:
- This piece was prepared by an editor at Neuroscience News.
- The journal article was reviewed in full for accuracy.
- Additional context and clarifications were provided by staff writers.
Author: Samuel Jeremic
Source: Curtin University
Contact: Samuel Jeremic – Curtin University
Image: Image credit: Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access. “A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties” by Hugh Riddell et al. Nature Human Behaviour
Abstract
A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties
Research into how people adjust their goals when they encounter obstacles has grown, but findings are scattered across different theories and life domains. To provide clarity, the authors carried out a systematic search of major databases up to May 2025 for empirical studies that examined predictors or outcomes of goal disengagement, goal reengagement, or goal-striving flexibility.
From 235 eligible studies, the team extracted 1,421 effect sizes and organized them into a conceptual model. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to estimate the strength and direction of relationships between antecedent categories (such as personality, motivation and social factors) and the different forms of goal adjustment.
Although individual studies were generally rated as relatively high quality, the overall body of evidence was judged to be low to moderate because many studies were cross-sectional, publication bias could be present, and there was substantial heterogeneity among findings.
Despite these limitations, consistent patterns emerged: distinct antecedent combinations predict goal disengagement, reengagement and flexibility, and these forms of adjustment are associated with different wellbeing, functional and goal-related outcomes.
The resulting conceptual model consolidates existing literature and provides a roadmap for future, more systematic research to better understand when persistence or adaptation is most beneficial for wellbeing and functioning.