All It Takes Is a Goal Book Review

My husband is facing a major milestone birthday and as our girls get closer to high school graduation, we’re realizing that we need to start making plans for the next chapter of our lives.

After two decades of living in the hustle of raising kids, we’re starting to wonder “What now?” It’s been so long since we’ve made plans for ourselves without the kids, we’re feeling a little bit lost and confused.

For his birthday present, I booked us two tickets and a weekend away to attend Jon Acuff’s Remarkable You live event in Franklin, TN this April. We plan to use the time to reconnect and chat about our plan for the coming years.

I’ve followed Jon for well over 10 years and have read most of his books. I recommend Finish to anyone who ever asks for a good non-fiction book. My husband suggested we read All It Takes Is a Goal together before we go on our trip.

As much as I have loved Jon’s work, I can honestly say this is my new favorite of all of them. I am so inspired and ready to dig in on some new adventures.

Curious if this book is for you? Check out my full review below.

Summary of All It Takes Is a Goal

What if you could have a fulfilling career, a thriving marriage, strong friendships, and rewarding hobbies, all while being in the best shape of your life? What if every day you lived was better than the one before? What if tapping into your potential wasn’t as hard as you think?

According to New York Times bestselling author Jon Acuff, it might not be. In fact, All It Takes Is a Goal.

In this book, Jon shows you how to plan goals that you’re guaranteed to reach by

● focusing on your best moments
● navigating the three zones of performance
● finding ways to fuel your passions
● enjoying the ride

Sound too good to be true? Jon thought so too. Until it happened–again and again–for him and the hundreds of real people in his research project.

Whether your goals are personal, relational, or career-driven, the key to a better future is closer than you think.

Book Stats

Published: September 12, 2023
Pages: 272
Genre: Motivational Management, Success Self-Help
Get Your Copy: Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook*
NOTE: Jon Acuff narrates his own books. As a professional speaker, he does an amazing job and his charm and humor shines through. Even if you’re not an audiobook reader, I recommend giving the audiobook a chance.

What I Liked

Here’s what I would tell my best friend about the book:

1. Easy, Bite-Sized Explanations You Can Execute: Whether you’re totally new to goal setting or are a “goal nerd” like Jon, his easy explanations of why these strategies work are quick to read and easy to implement for anyone.
2. Joy Matters: I adore the focus on happiness as the entire point for all your other goals. By covering the 5 main life categories (relationships, career, finance, health, and fun), put these tips to work and you’re bound to have a more joyful life in every aspect.
3. Guaranteed Results: If you’ve tried to set goals and failed before, you are guaranteed success with the tips from this book. I love the mindset shift that recognizes challenging seasons of life, physical and emotional road blocks that get in your way, and the grace that is allowed for us to be fully human and flawed in our attempts. Create goals that meet those needs and rake in all the easy wins!
4. Be Ready to Annotate: Get all your annotation supplies ready, I highlighted something on practically every page.

What I Didn’t Like

Every reader needs something different from a book. What I may not have preferred may be your favorite part so take this with a grain of salt.

There is almost nothing I could say about not liking this book. The only thing I can come up with is that it would be amazing to have Jon’s wife Jenny contribute a chapter or two on her perspective. She is referenced repeatedly throughout Jon’s work, I’d love to hear directly from her.

Overall Score

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I give All It Takes Is a Goal 5 stars.

This is one of the very best, most life-changing books I’ve ever read. I’m extremely motivated by goals and was already using several strategies outlined in the book in my every day life.

However, Jon connected the dots and explained why these strategies are so impactful in a way I couldn’t have verbalized for myself. This helped me to make better connections between some of my goals and strengthen their purpose for the coming year. I was able to tweak my approach to improve my success rate and I know these efforts will ultimately change my life for the better.

I enjoyed this book so much, I’ve added it to my list of favorite books of all time.

If this is your first time reading one of my reviews, you may want to check out how I score my reads with this scale guide here.

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