Introduction: An ex post facto study was carried out to analyze the role of achievement motivation in emotional intelligence and students' life goals, specifically to determine whether emotional intelligence is a mediating variable between achievement motivation and life goals. Method: The study sample was formed by 311 university students, who were administered the "Trait Meta-Mood Scale" (TMMS; Salovey et al., 1995), "Escala de motivación de logro" [Achievement motivation scale] (AM; Morales, 2006) and Life Goals Questionnaire (Wilding & Andrews, 2006). We conducted a mediation analysis using the SPSS Process macro, with bootstrapping techniques (10000 bootstrapping, Model 4 with a 95% confidence level). Results: The results indicate that achievement motivation had a significant, positive influence on emotional intelligence and life goals. In addition, we found that the relationship between achievement motivation and life goals was mediated positively and significantly by emotional intelligence. Discussion and conclusions: With these findings, our study makes an innovative contribution by putting forward a theoretical model that demonstrates the relationship between these variables, where we observe the buffering role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between achievement motivation and life goals.