Achievement goals can be oriented towards mastery-approach (development of self-referential competence) or performance-approach (demonstration of normative competence). These goal states have been found to differentially impact achievement success but the intentional cognitive processes coordinating how these goal states exert such effects is not understood. Findings from two key experiments will be presented which suggest when working memory is loaded, individuals pursuing a mastery-approach goal experience larger performance decrements than individuals pursuing a performance-approach goal or those in a no-goal control. It is suggested that a motivated focus on developing self-referential competence relies heavily on working memory, facilitated by the use of deliberative, ‘step-by-step’ strategies during goal pursuit. Conversely, a focus on demonstrating normative competence depends less on working memory, facilitated by the use of more heuristic ‘short-cut’ strategies during goal pursuit. These findings show, for the first time, that working memory plays an important, but selective, role in achievement goal pursuit. Contributions to the motivation-cognition interface and future research directions will be discussed.