People have been saying for years that writing down a goal is one of the best ways to ensure success in attaining it. However, as with so many success systems, it sounds so simple that people don’t really believe that it works.
Well, it DOES work, and by understanding the process, you will gain confidence in this simple, yet very effective method of attaining your goals.
There are 3 ways that writing down a goal will help you to accomplish it, and the beauty of this system is that you benefit from all 3 of these each and every time that you write it down. By making a daily practice of writing down a goal, you will automatically get 3 benefits from one simple effort.
Conscious Statement
Whenever we first decide that we want to accomplish something, we tend to be very excited about it, and very motivated to do “whatever it takes” to get the job done. However, over the course of time, we tend to lose that enthusiasm because we are not frequently reminded of whatever it is that we wanted to accomplish.
By making the daily effort to write down our dreams and desires, we remind our conscious selves of the commitment that we made. By writing down a goal every single day, it becomes quite impossible for us to lose sight of it.
Rather than allowing our hectic lives to get in the way of our success, the constant written reminder of what we want causes us to create our daily lives around the attainment of those desires.
Subconscious Programming
Even more powerful than the conscious reminder about what we want, writing down a goal very effectively programs our subconscious mind to work “behind the scenes” on the attainment of our desires.
The subconscious mind has constant access to all knowledge, memories, and experience, and it is able to manipulate that information in such a way that – quite frankly – our conscious minds could never even hope to compete with. Our subconscious minds control 90%-95% of our lives, so programming that massive super-computer is a guaranteed method of getting what we want out of life.
I recently started writing down my primary goal at the top of a piece of paper that holds my to-do list each day. In less than 5 days I had no less than half a dozen really good ideas about how to attain that goal.
Here is the kicker, though: Each idea came to me completely out of the blue while I was doing something totally unrelated to what I want to accomplish. My subconscious was simply chewing on my written down desires each day and sending me inspiration as new ideas or methods were discovered.
It doesn’t get any easier than standing around doing nothing while your subconscious does all of the heavy lifting!
External Factors
How many people in your life know what your goals are? One, maybe two people? Not even that many?
The simple truth of the matter is that people often have trouble defining exactly what it is that they want, and even fewer actually share their deepest desires with others.
How are other people supposed to help you if they don’t even know what it is that you want?
At home, are your goals written down in the kitchen, the bathroom, or other public areas? Even if your kids and your spouse consider you a certifiable lunatic for thinking that you can write a novel about The 50 Best Ways to Eat Peanut Butter and Crackers, is that goal so much in their face that they might possibly tell others about it?
- Your child may go to school with another child whose parent is a publisher of weird and unusual books.
- Your spouse might work with someone that is married to a caterer who is looking to start joint ventures with people who have unique ideas for food preparation.
- Your visiting neighbor might have experience with the cheapest and fastest ways to self-publish a book, or they may have connections in the publishing industry.
At work, is your goal of someday owning the company written down in plain view where all of your co-workers, managers, and customers can see it?
- Negative, energy-sapping co-workers tend to stay away from driven, goal-oriented people.
- Managers tend to give opportunities to people with a demonstrated and obvious drive to succeed.
- Customers tend to trust businesses whose employees openly see long-term success with the company that they work for.
In each of these examples, not only do you benefit from your own efforts, but you can potentially benefit from the knowledge, experience, or connections of people who know what you are trying to accomplish. Let other people do some of the work for you!
The bottom line is that writing down a goal is the simplest and most effective method that you will ever find to accomplish or attain anything that you desire in life.
It’s simple, it’s fast, and it’s free. Why wouldn’t you do that??
Thanks Aaron. I agree with you fully. I write down ALL of my goals, and I make it a point to update my long and short term goals every sunday night. Then, as I am starting each day, I create two or three goals to accomplish that day to move me forward. Writing down goals is also a wonderful way to keep yourself in a PROACTIVE mindset. Great work, and thanks!
Todd Goldfarb
We The Change
Even more important than writing it down, you’ve got to plan for it. While I agree there’s something to be said for subconsciously absorbing a goal that you write down enough times, without a step-by-step plan in place, “earn $10,000” or “lose 10lbs” is hard to achieve.
People are always so turned off by plans, but I hope they realize that a little organization will bring them the freedom to achieve their goals. That’s what my blog really tries to focus on: freedom through organization.
Great article.
Throughout my life I have seemed to have some trouble with goals, and it is something I am currently working on and have gotten a bit farther than I had previously.
Thanks for the article, it brings up some very good points. Another one I would like to bring up, is if you make a goal pretty public, there is that added pressure to follow up on it.
Cary
Wow. Thanks for the profound post! I completely agree and feel writing is very underated… Happy and a healthy holiday!
Todd,
Wow, that is a picture-perfect example of proper goal-setting technique! I love the renewal of the long and the short-term goals each Sunday. What a great way to stay on track.
Marina,
You are absolutely right. There can be no goal attainment without taking action, and a good plan of attack is always a good idea.
As I said in this post, by writing down my goals, the ideas came to me unbidden. It’s still up to me to take action. 🙂
Cary,
That is an excellent point. Although technically no one should do something just because other people expect it of us, when we publicize our goals, there is that added desire to follow through on what we said.
No one likes to say something and then get caught not pulling it off!
Thanks, Media!
It is a classic irony that in today’s high-tech society, putting pen to paper is still one of the most powerful tools that we have at our disposal!
I agree, writing down our goals/desires is very powerful on many levels. Great post.
Thanks, Mark! Glad you enjoyed it, and I appreciate the positive feedback.
Loved the article!! Sharing it with my team, this is the whole concept of Believe and you will Achieve! I lead my team in this thought pattern. Thanks for such a great piece of info!!! Do you have other post along the same lines? Kudos to you Brenda
Yeah. I do that, too, I write my goals and I post it in my dresser so that I can see it everyday. This way, I will not remember what my goals are. And I never fail to congratulate myself each time I actually reach these goals.
Great article. What your focus on expands so writing down your goals every day you focus on what you want to achieve and the universe will work in mysterious ways for you to achieve your goal. It is also good to break down your long term goals into shorter more managable goals and to write down your successes in your success journal everyday so you will feel that you are accomplishing something towards your goals.
Hey, Brenda!
Glad that you got so much out of the post, and there is certainly more where that came from. You can check out the Categories section in the right side bar, you can search the site using the Google search box also in the sidebar, or you can start right here in the Goals category:
https://TodayIsThatDay.com/blog/category/goals/
Enjoy!
Jen,
Allowing ourselves to recognize our successes is definitely something that people should remember to do frequently. Life can get so busy that even when we accomplish something we set out to do, we forget to allow ourselves a very deserved celebration!
Anna,
I think that is one of the reasons why this simple, effective method is so often overlooked. Until the universe starts to throw things your way that will help you to get to your goal, it can be difficult to see the value in that daily ritual of writing things down.
For me, I do a fresh list every morning, and crossing off things that are 100% complete for the day brings me great satisfaction, and then I have a Gratitude Journal that I keep as well. 🙂
Thank you for this post. You said something very profound. You said when you write your goal on a daily basis, you are not likely to lose your motivation and focus. Honestly, I have not been doing that, however, this is a new year.
Demond,
Many people use the New Year as a good point for changing their habits in order to effect positive changes in their lives, and writing down your goals is simply one of the most powerful daily activities that someone can take part in.
It is easy to lose our focus and motivation when we don’t give ourselves frequent, written reminders of what we are trying to accomplish. Also, as this post indicates, doing so also enlists the aid of our subconscious as well as the people in our circle of influence as well.
Wonderful stuff!! But then, I’ve always loved your writing, and the way you think. 🙂 I started my Gratitude Journal a year ago, and unfortunately, got out of the habit of writing in it daily. “Life” got in the way. Yes…it’s a new year. So let’s go get ’em!!
Thanks, Sue! I appreciate you taking the time to read through my writing, and for the positive feedback on this post.
I had also gotten out of the habit of writing in my Gratitude Journal, but I got a new notebook for Christmas and I am happily journaling away, and also practicing gratitude thoughts every morning and every night. It’s a wonderful thing! 🙂
I have mini-goals that I write down for myself at the beginning of every week. I find that those are the things that I always get done the quickest and stay in my mind the longest. I rarely forget/fail to complete a goal (if realistic) if I write it down.
Syracuse,
Yes, the realistic part of it is important, too, especially on the short-term goals. If you try to take over the world by the end of the week, you’ll have a hard time convincing yourself that you can pull it off. 😉
As far as long-term goals, they should also be realistic, but at the same time, they should stretch us to both believe in and accomplish things beyond what we have believed and accomplished in the past.