Write Your Goals Down

Few months ago I was a speaker alongside Richie Dayo Johnson, one of the best motivational speakers in the UK at Creating the Future, a seminar that was delivered to a select audience of company executives, top government officials and captains of at the Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria. One of the things I spoke about was goal setting and the importance of writing it down on paper. I even showed the audience my goals for 2006 written on paper that I keep in my wallet.

I said always think on paper. A goal that is not in writing is not 14CCa goal at all. It is merely a wish and it has no energy behind it.

Think about it! If you were taking a complicated route out of town, you would write down the directions wouldnt you? But if you were considering the path of your life, your goals, and what you need to do to achieve them, you probably wouldn't write any of them down.

Writing down your plans, goals, and ideas makes them clearer to you. Every step you take to define and actualise your goals will systematically increase your chances of achieving it.

According to Brian Tracy, Clarity accounts for probably 80% of success and happiness. Lack of clarity is probably more responsible for frustration and underachievement than any other single factor. People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine. Your success in life will largely be determined by how clear you are about what it is you really set as your goal.

The more you write and rewrite your goals and think about them, the clearer the goals will become. The clearer you are about what you want, the more likely you are to do more and more of the things that are consistent with achieving it. Meanwhile, you will do fewer and fewer of the things that don't help to get the things you really want. In Jack Canfield's and Mark Victor Hansen's original Chicken Soup for the Soul, I am reminded of the short story called "Another Check Mark On the List." This is a story about a 15 year old boy named John who, on one rainy day, when it was too wet outside to play, decided to write a list of his goals. John continued writing until he had 127 goals. These goals included exploring the Nile River, climbing high mountain peaks around the world and learning 3 foreign languages. He also wanted to be featured in a Rose Bowl Parade and play several musical instruments. Of the 127 goals that he listed over 60 years ago, John has achieved 108. If he lives to become 75 years old he will achieve 109 (he listed "live to see the 21st Century"). How did John achieve all of these goals? He wrote them down...

I recently read a motivational quote that said: "If you can't write it down, you can't do it." Let's think about that for a minute. Every day you may be compiling lists of things to do; to run your household, perform your job, or plan your business trip or vacation. How many times do you really write down, exactly what you want out of life? How many long term or short - term goals do you write down?

Write it down in your personal digital assistant or your day planner. Write it down and hang it on your walls, write it down on sticky notes and place them on your bathroom mirror or on your windows. Every time you write your goal down, your body is moving toward your goal. The goal is getting clearer and clearer. The road map you create by writing it down is projected straight to your subconscious mind and is being acted upon. Write your goals down everywhere.

The very fact that you are reading and listing this information is a great start toward overcoming the real obstacles and moving forward toward achieving all of your goals. Think about John, the 15-year-old goal achiever from Chicken Soup for the Soul. Now that he is over 70 years old, what advice would John have for you when you ask him: "What was the most important thing you can do to achieve your goals?" John would say, just three words. Write it down. Write them down in the present tense, as though a year has passed and you have already accomplished them.

Fewer than three percent of adults have written goals and plans that they work on every single day. When you sit down and write out your goals, you move yourself into the top 3% of people in our society. And you will soon start to get the same results that they do. The act of writing your goals down vastly increases your chance of success. Write it down! Then, keep your notes where you can see and read them every day

Dayo Olomu is a UK-based motivational Speaker, Human Potential Developer, Business/Life Coach, Writer, Trainer, Infopreneur, a Competent Leader and an Advance Toastmaster. His core belief is that we are all endowed with seeds of greatness, and his mission is to inspire and empower individuals and organisations to higher levels of achievement and peak performance. He is the author of best selling 4 Indispensable Strategies for Success and the charter President of Croydon Communicators Toastmasters. Visit his website at www.dayoolomu.com or send an e-mail to info@dayoolomu.com

Joan Borysenko
Bodhipaksa