How do you stick to long-term goals?

First figure out why the goal was that in the first place. Did you grow tired of it because your goal was to learn a new framework and you kinda did that but now you have to write a bunch of docker/monitoring stuff? In that case it is a signal that you should stop, park the project and move on.

Or is it some project that you are doing because this is something you think you should/aught to be doing? In this case, this is your mind warning you again.

If, and only if, you still want the outcome of the goal should you continue with it.

I have found my main problem is getting started, not so much continuing. I will spent way too much time procrastinating getting started on even things I find pleasurable. Others are different.

For me, on the projects I care about, Beeminder works well.

Being process orientated. Results come from sustained effort over long periods, so I focus on making the process sustainable and enjoyable.

I build Conjure[0], a habits and goals platform, solo and bootstrapped, and have worked on it for 496 days in a row (at the time of writing) and have tracked over 3000 hours of development on it.

I have a daily habit[1] to do at least 1 minute of work a day (also known as a 'Habit Emergency Mode') to maintain a sense of momentum and progress. This helps me through my 'off days', have no 'zero days', and reduce negative emotions associated with the process.

Starting off, I had to manage my expectations and accept it may be a 2 year journey before I started getting any traction, and would commit to 1000 hours before I allowed myself to second-guess myself. I used objectives (within Conjure itself) to track these various time-based objectives.

As you can't always control the outcome, but you can control the process, I focus on making the activity the reward and enjoying the process[2] as best I can, even if I have to go slower at times.

Keeping in mind "you are a product of your environment, " I generally try to consume material and be around people with similar values and ambitions for motivation and peer accountability. I have tracked personal KPIs at various times to ensure I do this enough.

[0] https://conjure.so/

[1] https://conjure.so/guides/time-based-habits-and-objectives

[2] https://whelton.io/same-for-less-and-85-percent-rule

There are some questions for which there is no rational "how" answer -- only some form of courage. For these, the answer you're looking for is to be found either in a community or a spiritual practice.

So: find a community of people who can encourage you to persist and find a prayer or mantra you can say to encourage yourself.

It depends a lot on what you are trying to do. But generally, make a plan on how to get from where you are to where you want to be. Break it down into chunks that you can accomplish and reward yourself as you accomplish them. You also need someone that can hold you accountable. Many people will say yes but long term it's impossible for someone to stay interested with you. I suggest you find a paid professional to consult regularly, that will help you stay on point, if you can.

People balk at paying someone but most people need someone to be accountable to. Otherwise they go into a never ending cycle of starting and never accomplishing their goals.

Any examples? I tend to break the goal down into smaller milestone goals.

keeping daily notes works for me. say for a goal of losing weight. I got a daily weight chart, the curve keeps going downhill, that has motivated me to stay on track...

my understanding, if something is not your interest/hobby, need to find something as a good motivation/self-encouragement to enter a good cycle... find some fun in it ...

how do i cope with a lack of instant gratification in the context of undertaking a large endeavor?

i know the payoff at the end is worth it to me personally. make sure your undertaking is aligned with your long term goals in life, and its much easier.