Objective: Symptoms of general psychological distress disrupt goal pursuit; however, not everyone is equally impacted by distress when pursuing goals. We tested whether hope, self-efficacy, and/or grit buffered the impact of symptoms of general psychological distress on longitudinal goal progress.Method: Undergraduate students reported on these constructs and, 2 months later, their progress toward five personal goals (N = 117).Results: Although greater levels of baseline psychological distress predicted less goal progress, the impact of psychological distress on goal progress was moderated by hope, β = .20, SE = 0.07, p < .01. More specifically, at higher hope, participants reported similar goal progress regardless of baseline distress symptoms, while at lower hope, baseline distress was negatively associated with goal progress. Conclusion:Hope may function as a buffer against the association between general psychological distress and impaired goal progress.