Writing Your Goals Down is Vital to Success

Every time I read a self-help book, listen to a motivational speaker, or go to a time management seminar the topic of goal-setting always surfaces. Effectively accomplishing your ministry, business, and life goals can only occur if you continuously write them down, review and adjust them as time goes along.

The power of well-defined, clearly articulated goals is quite phenomenal. Goals are similar to the road map or GPS you use when you are driving to a place where you have never been before. The bottom line is that you will never get there unless you have the destination’s address and clear directions.

It is amazing to see how many people plan for simple tasks such as going to the movies or planning a party, yet fail to plan for their ministries, businesses and lives. I am thoroughly convinced that most do not plan because they simply do not know the power and significance of goals. Goals motivate you to action. They move you away from the “dreaming” and “hoping” stage to the “activation” and “manifestation” stage.

In the 1950s, a study was conducted with a group of recent Yale graduates. Each was asked whether or not they had goals for their futures and if they had written them down. Only three percent said that they had specific, written goals. Years later, when a follow-up was done, the researchers found that the three percent who had written their goals down not only achieved much of what they originally wanted, but their net worth was as much as the other ninety seven percent of their classmates combined.

As we view creation we see an obvious, incredible and profound pattern of organization. All of nature is set in a symbiotic relationship that benefits all of life here on planet Earth. Without organization, life on Earth would simply cease to exist. In a similar fashion, without organized thoughts and goals, your hopes and dreams will never come to life.

Scripture says this about writing things down:

“Then the LORD answered me and said: ‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry. — Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NKJV)

Those who write down their goals, dreams, and visions are guaranteed to accomplish far more than those who do not. In his book, Eat that Frog, Brian Tracy shares seven steps for setting and achieving your goals. I think his blueprint is easy to understand and implement:

1. Decide exactly what you want.
2. Write it down.
3. Set deadlines on your goal.
4. Make a list of everything that you can think of that you are going to have to do to achieve your goal.
5. Organize your list into a plan.
6. Take action on your plan immediately.
7. Resolve to do something every single day that moves you toward your major goal.

(Eat that Frog. Barrett & Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2001)

Mr. Tracy ends that chapter with this important statement: Think about your goals and review them daily.

As I consider my own life, I recognize that I have experienced the most success when I have implemented these steps. Although my implementation may not have been in a particular order, I have succeeded in applying most or all of these steps. I even use these principles for something as simple as saving money for a project or a vacation.

In planning for vacation, I estimate how much money I will need. I subdivide that amount into weeks. Afterwards, I save the corresponding amount each week that will net me the full amount I would need by vacation time. On a larger scale, as you consider your life assignment, you really can break down the many tasks you need to accomplish into manageable, smaller goals that will get you on the road of effective accomplishments and success. These written sub-goals will greatly help
you to focus on what you need to do; thus allowing you the opportunity to achieve your life goals.

For example, let’s say that your goal is to open your own bookstore. The first step is to visit other bookstores. This will help you to formulate what your bookstore will look like.

The second step is to mentally visit your bookstore. Imagine yourself walking down every aisle. Visualize yourself touching the books and seeing the different sections and varieties of books that you will have in your bookstore. As you do this, start writing down everything you see in as clear a fashion as you can.

Once you have done this, start your research. Look for courses on how to open and run a bookstore, and actively go to bookstore owners and ask them how they succeeded. Identify book distributors with whom you will be doing business with.

It sounds like a lot, but remember, but you will be breaking down each project into manageable time frames. Now list all of these projects in order of importance. Immediately begin doing something that will advance you toward the ultimate goal of the opening day of your bookstore. I know I have greatly simplified it, but if you use this pattern and process, you will accomplish your goals.

One word of warning: many people start the process, but stop in the middle due to any number of circumstances. As I read Mr. Tracy’s book and saw how he counseled his readers to think about their goals and review them daily, I realized that the only way to stay continuously motivated in achieving any major goal is to think about the goal and its corresponding benefits every day. You have to see the finished product as clearly as possible. You have to “feel” the joyful emotion of people coming to you and saying, “Thank you for this bookstore. My life has been changed by the books that I’ve purchased in your lovely bookstore.” These emotions and thoughts will continue to encourage and fuel your daily efforts. Also, as you review your accomplishments, visualize what is left to be done, as well as changes that need to be made mid-stream. Without constant, strong, exciting emotions, it can become very hard to accomplish complex goals.

Once you see it, write it down, set deadlines, make lists in order of priorities, and establish a working plan. Do something every day that gets you closer to your goal and review your process daily.

Remember the three percent of the students who wrote down their goals and accomplished them and the ninety seven percent did not. Become part of the “three percent club” and become the prosperous leader you were called to be.

Applying wisdom to everyday life for extraordinary results,

Victor Nazario