The road to your dreams isn’t always easy to navigate, sometimes dotted with mountains to climb, obstacles to overcome—and hard, mind-numbing times that will make you feel like quitting. Just remember this if you get lost along the way: Anything worth having doesn’t come easy. So don’t turn back around. Don’t give up. As you work to achieve your most ambitious goals, push yourself to keep moving forward with these 17 motivational quotes. Related: Top of Mind: 7 Ways to Boost Self-Motivation  1. “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.” —Norman Vincent Peale  2. “If you can dream it, you can do it.” —Walt Disney  3. “Where there is a will, there is a way. If there is a chance in a million that you can do something, anything, to keep what you want from ending, do it. Pry the door open or, if need be, wedge your foot in that door and keep it open.” —Pauline Kael  4. “Do not wait; the time will never be ‘just right.’ Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” —George Herbert  5. “Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.” —George Whitefield  6. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt  7. “Aim for the moon. If you miss, you may hit a star.” —W. Clement Stone  8. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” —Sam Levenson  9. “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.” —Michael Phelps  10. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” —Theodore Roosevelt  11. “We aim above the mark to hit the mark.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson  12. “One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.” —Michael Korda  13. “Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” —Simone de Beauvoir  14. “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” —Babe Ruth  15. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” —Arthur Ashe  16. “Why should you continue going after your dreams? Because seeing the look on the faces of the people who said you couldn’t… will be priceless.” —Kevin Ngo  17. “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” —Harriet Beecher Stow

1. Perceive obstacles as merely a detour to your final goal.

Have the conviction that your goal is achievable. Actor Chris Burke once said, “I have a motto on my bedroom wall: ‘Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off the goal.’ Giving up is not my style. I just want to do something that’s worthwhile.”

Once your eyes are set on the goal, don’t allow minor obstacles to distract you. It’s easy to give up; it’s much harder to stick to the plan.

2. Hope is not a plan.

There will always be obstacles along the way. Hoping they will go away and that things will fall in place is not the answer. Create achievable and realistic goals to ensure success. Ensure the goals you create are simple, clear, desirable and measureable. Measure progress and celebrate accomplishments to motivate you to propel forward at a faster pace.

There are numerous books and blogs regarding SMART goals. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based. Ensure your goals meet these standards and see how much easier it will be to stick to your goals amid obstacles.

Related: It Only Takes 6 Steps to Plan Your Success

3. Focus on what you can do.

When Jordan was cut from the varsity team, he was only 5 feet 10 inches. He wanted to be taller. But he knew it was out of his control. So instead of wasting his time and effort, he focused onhoning the skills he could control.

Instead of thinking about what you cannot do, think about what you can do. Use the obstacle as a means to become better or think of creative ways to overcome it. When you hit a wall, find a way to climb it or build a hole in the wall to get to the other side. Don’t just stand there and wonder why you hit the wall.

4. We can’t always control events, but we can control our attitude.

Choose an attitude to prevail. Develop an unshakable belief in yourself and your abilities. Have the confidence to be the exception, the outlier that overcomes all obstacles—someone who is willing to bet on themselves.

Our brains have nerve pathways called the reticular activating system (RAS). The RAS receives directions from various parts of the brain, decides which pieces are useful to achieve the command, and makes it happen. What this means is we can program our mind to be positiveand search for viable solutions. Developing the right mindset is the best solution for overcoming obstacles and achieving goals.

Obstacles are inevitable. All successful people have faced and overcome their own obstacles. The conviction in your goals, a smart plan, creative solutions and the right mindset can giveyou a powerful determination to succeed.