As British writer C.S.Lewis once noted “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” The road to achieving any worthwhile goal is usually rocky, messy and somewhat chaotic. The distractions are always there, especially in our social media, fear-inducing and anxiety creating 24/7 news cycle. There is always something ready to grab our attention- comedy skits, tweets, trending topics, insta stories & reels, tiktok videos etc. Energy & attention goes wherever your focus goes.
According to a study led by Professor Gail Matthews of Dominican University of California, people who wrote their goals accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals down. The study involved 267 participants recruited from businesses, organizations, and business
networking groups.
Participants were divided into five groups: : Group 1- Unwritten Goal; Group 2- Written Goal; Group 3- Written Goal & Action Commitments; Group 4- Written Goal, Action Commitments to a Friend; Group 5- Written Goal, Action
Commitments & Progress Reports to a Friend.
At the end study, Matthews found that writing your goals down enhanced achieving it significantly.
One of the major difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is their outlook to life and the importance that they place on goal setting. In his seminal book on goal setting, Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want — Faster Than You Ever Thought, author and personal development speaker Brian Tracy writes about the importance of goal setting and the need to have clear goals. He writes:
Many thousands of successful people have been asked what they think about most of the time. The most common answer given by successful people is that they think about what they want—and how to get it—most of the time.
Unsuccessful, unhappy people think and talk about what they don’t want most of the time. They talk about their problems and worries and who is to blame for their situation most of the time. But successful people keep their thoughts and conversations focused on their most intensely desired goals. They think and talk about what they want most of the time.
Living without clear goals is like driving in a thick fog. No matter how powerful or well-engineered your car, you drive slowly, hesitantly, making little progress on even the smoothest road. Deciding upon your goals clears the fog immediately and allows you to focus and channel your energies and abilities toward what you really want. Clear goals enable you to step on the accelerator of your own life and race ahead rapidly toward achieving more of what you want in life.
“Like a computer, your goal-seeking mechanism is nonjudgmental. It works automatically and continuously to bring you what you want, regardless of what you program into it.”
A goal that is not in writing is not a goal at all. Everyone who succeeds greatly works from clear, written, specific, detailed goals and plans, reviewed regularly, sometimes every day. I personally recommend that you write and rewrite your goals each day, day after day, week after week, and month after month. This programs them deep into your subconscious mind where they take on a life and power of their own.”
“Continually ask yourself, “How will I measure success in the achievement of this goal? What standards will I create? What benchmarks or scorecards can I use to measure my progress?
Daily/Weekly Goal Review
One of the greatest game changers for me in the past 12 months as been goal review. I set three intentions daily, review them weekly and monthly. By reviewing your goals consistently, you are reminded of what really matters, this helps you with re-ordering your priorities.
All the Best in your quest to get Better. Don’t Settle: Live with Passion.
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