Balanced deliberation and the generation of a goal intention strengthens goal commitment (Gollwitzer, 1990) and results in a ‘goal shielding' effect (Shah, Friedman & Krunglanski, 2002) that inhibits competing goals and allows the individual to remain ‘pure' in its' pursuits. However, goal pursuing can also be influenced by affective states, as proposed by the Mood Behavior Model (Gendolla, 2000) and how these are interpreted by the individual (Martin, Ward, Achee & Wyer, 1993). No previous study has examined whether the ‘goal shielding' effect protects goal pursuing also from affective interference. This is the objective of this study. We assessed whether a self-assigned goal intention regarding a task to perform and the subsequent ‘goal shielding' effect protected goal pursuit from affective influences induced by mood manipulation. We found evidence for our hypothesis. Deciding ones' goals protected goal pursuit from affective influences and therefore led in higher persistence while in goal pursuit.