Written Goals Beat Mental Goals Everytime

Do you write down your goals? I bet most people either don’t have goals, and those that say they have goals probably don’t take the time to write down their goals.

I think this is disgraceful, or at a bare minimum ineffective. Please don’t take my tone as judgmental or overly critical though. I used to be part of the non-written goal crowd earlier in my life, and switching over to written goals has literally changed my life. If you don’t write your goals down or think it’s too much work, consider the following questions:

How serious can you be about your goals if you haven’t written them down?
If you don’t have the time to write your goals down you won’t have the strength or commitment to make the difficult decisions needed to reach your goals. Writing your goals down shows commitment, and it will move you to the head of your peers if you practice regular goal setting, regardless of the goals you seek. It really doesn’t take that much time to write down and review your goals regularly.

I follow one of Brian Tracy’s recommendations by writing down my top goals daily. I keep a notebook for goal tracking, ideas, and things I’ve learned, and I write down my top goals daily. If you really want to supercharge this approach you should also write down three things you can do right now to move you towards your goals, and then do one immediately.

I’ve found that the act of physically writing down my goals each day is a way to burn the goals into my mind, and it helps me stay focused when I’m tempted to deviate or give up on my goals.

How can you focus on your goals if you don’t have a way to review your goals regularly?

Written goals provide a way to track progress, key learnings, and ensure you don’t forget about unmet commitments you have made to yourself. I believe these unmet commitments drain your mental and physical energy, even commitments you forgot about! This follows the same thought process as David Allen’s Getting Things Done approach to productivity.

Do you think there’s a benefit to tracking your goals and seeing them through to completion?

I’ve seen my own self-confidence and ability to reach more difficult goals improve dramatically with written goals. Goal setting and achievement is like training any other muscle. It needs to be exercised and trained, and as you develop this skill it will be easier to accomplish more difficult goals in the future.

You don’t have to know how to reach your destination before you set you goal.

Opportunities will present themselves once you’ve made a commitment and set a goal. You don’t need to know how to complete every single step in order to get started. Sometimes it’s better to list the end goal and NOT specify how you plan to obtain the goal. By doing this you allow your mind to find alternate pathways to the end state.

Remember to follow these Goal Guidelines when creating your written goals:

• state goals in the positive.
• state the goal in the present tense. “I weigh 180 pounds” is a better goal than “I will weigh 180 pounds”
• set an achievable deadline. “I weigh 180 pounds by 6/30 at 5pm” is better than “I weigh 180 pounds”
• add some emotion. “I weigh 180 pounds by 6/30 and I feel fantastic!”

Recommended Actions:

• Write down your top 5 or 10 goals daily, in order of priority, from memory. Don’t cheat and look at what you wrote yesterday. This will show you where your real focus is, and after a few days your top goals should stabilize and stay the same until something changes or you accomplish them. The best time to do this is first thing in the morning and/or right before bed.
• Once a week or month spend a few minutes and review your progress. Did you accomplish anything that moved you towards your goals? Where did you do well, and where can you improve?
• Write down three things you’re going to do to reach your top goal(s) and do one immediately
• Identify a mentor or accountability partner and share your goals with that person (or group). You’re more likely to achieve your goals if you are accountable to others.

These steps will take you less than 5 minutes a day. If you’re really serious about reaching a particular goal, 5 minutes a day shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.

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