Goals

Goals are just dreams with deadlines...

Here's a short story. In 1953 Yale University started an experiment to see the effects of goal setting. The scientists asked hundreds of graduating students a number of questions but the main one was whether they had any goals. Apparently other than getting a job, 90% had no goals, 7% had goals in their heads and 3% had goals written down on paper in clear daily sight.

They re-interviewed these people every decade or so and they discovered that the 3% with written goals were worth more than the 97% combined. That's the power of goal setting. Whether this story is true or not is irrelevant because goal setting 100% works. It's also more effective if you let other people know them so that you are somewhat accountable for your results. 

Well I've been properly goal setting from 01 Jan 2012 and it does work. I believe the key is to plan where you want to be and by when, then work backwards whilst breaking it down into monthly, weekly and daily targets. That way, if you're not hitting your daily or weekly targets, you know for sure that your big goals/dreams are not going to be achieved in the time frame you set out!

From my interactions with friends, family and acquaintances I've found that most of us suffer from self-defeating thoughts. We tend to say to ourselves, 'We can't afford to buy/do that' or 'I'm not clever enough to do that' etc. Well if you think like that, you're probably right. One needs to completely flip that attitude and ask yourself, 'How can I afford to do that/how can I make the money to buy/do that' or 'What do I need to do to do that' etc. Poor worded I know but hopefully you get the point.

It's probably also worth carrying around or putting your goals up in your bedroom/office. It just acts as a gentle reminder to stop procrastinating!