What is 'chances are good we’ll burn out and bail'? When goal pursuit is tough, it’s easy to lose focus or discard the goal. If we don’t stay connected to our why, as one study put it, “the infusion of goals with energy may be distressingly temporary. In other words, chances are good we’ll burn out and bail. But as another study found, “Autonomous goal motives will result in greater objectively assessed persistence toward an increasingly difcult goal. . . . If individuals strive with more autonomous motives, they will be better equipped to overcome challenges in goal pursuit.” 3 Your why makes all the diference in the world.