Why is it that if you write your goals down you tend to achieve them?
Chris Croft
★ Writer and Keynote Speaker, Project Management and Time Management, Negotiation Skills ~ UK-based
Why is it that if you write your goals down you tend to achieve them?
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You may be sceptical about this, but I know it’s true because I’ve tested it personally more than once, and many other people have told me the same.?But why??If there’s a God he probably doesn’t give out Ferraris, or whatever people write on their lists – it’s up to us to make things happen.
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Two mechanisms that would explain it
1 – that the goals are in your subconscious, like a kind of autopilot, so you are slightly more sensitive to any possible contacts and leads that crop up.?All the tiny decisions that you make every day all add up and you end up taking a different course – a better one – to where you would have gone.?Having a clear destination stops you drifting through your life.?
2 – that having clear goals makes you more self disciplined (you are less likely to waste time if you are determined to achieve something – on training courses I use Olympic rowing god Steve Redgrave’s training regime to illustrate this.?How could he have maintained his focus without?the Olympics coming up?) and also it makes you more assertive (you are less likely to let other people drag you of course if you have a clear goal you want to achieve).?These two key skills of self discipline and assertiveness make you much more likely to do the right things in terms of using systems (jobs to do list, master list, write everything down, promises from other people logged in your diary and followed up, etc) and also in terms of using skills like saying No, Negotiating, Delegating, Prioritising (when you do things and how long you spend on them) and overcoming your urges to do things perfectly or to please other people.
And if you have systems and you use skills: you are much more likely to achieve your goals.
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So it goes:
Goals lead to…
Self discipline and…
Assertiveness which lead to…
Systems and…
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Use of Skills which lead to…
Achievement of goals
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Goals are the beginning and the end.
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Onwards and upwards!
CC
PS: Time Management courses on Linkedin Learning (if you have Premium or your company has a licence for Linkedin Learning, or if you want to do the free 28 day trial:
Time Management courses on Udemy, frequently reduced to only $15-20
PARTNER, GFW LLP
1 年Victoria Linsley MRICS
Always good advice! You are your own accountabilibuddy first - and if you need more support enlist the help of friends or colleagues. ??
HRBP Senior Manager for Commercial at PZ Cussons
1 年I find it works for me too Christ, though the time it's achieved sometimes not as we planned, but it just happens. And sometimes it ended up in a few different form than what we're expecting at the beginning, but somehow it satisfy us.
Project Manager
1 年This is true and it works for me. I didn't have a goal a few years back and then I started to set my goal last year. It then gave me a sense of urgency and a subconscious that constantly reminds me of those goals. If I tend to drift away, there's an anxiety that bugs me and tells me that I need to get back on track.
Business Process Improvement Specialist @ VodafoneZiggo
1 年Not even read the whole article yet. Still sharing knowing where it’s coming from. Thank you for the past and likely future Knowledge Gifts that’ve kept giving ????