What Did You Say You Want?
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This is a replay of Season 1 – Episode 2. Many of the early episodes have been pushed off of iTunes and other platforms because of the amount of episodes I have published. If you have listened to some of my latest episodes, you will have heard that I am working on some Life Event issues and am working on a new platform for the show. As I work through this Life Event, I will be back into full swing with Goal Getting Podcast. Thank you for your patience. I hope you enjoy this replay.
The What – Clearly Defined Written Goals
In order to accomplish a goal, your mind must first know what you want. The brain is a very literal tool. It wants to, and will, give you exactly what you want. It will give you exactly what you BELIEVE you want.
There is a quote attributed to Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich and Outwitting The Devil,
What The Mind Can Conceive, it Can Achieve. However, the actual quote is
What The Mind Can Conceive, and Believe, It Can Achieve! - Napoleon Hill Click To Tweet
In order for the mind to believe it has to know, specifically, what you want. To make that clear, Napoleon Hill stated in Think And Grow Rich, that you should create not just written goals, but
Clearly Defined, Written Goals.
In Episode 0, we learned about the 3 Critical Concepts of Successful Goal Setting
We talked about the FIRST Concept – that I call – The What – What do you want?
As we discussed then, it is important to know What We Want To Achieve.
Napoleon Hill – for his book – Think & Grow Rich – Interviewed the most Highly Successful People of his time , people such as (Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, etc.).
Napoleon Hill wanted to know what they did differently from everyone else that propelled them to Success and great wealth.
What did they do that allowed them to achieve what they achieved?
From his studies and interviews he found 13 Principles,
The ONE COMMON THREAD with all of these successful people was they had – CLEARLY DEFINED, WRITTEN GOALS.
Each one wrote their goals down, but they were also were clearly defined.
Not just, I want to be rich! I Want to make a lot of money! I Want to be famous!
They were clearly defined! Each one knew very clearly where they wanted to go!
Speaker and Author – Mark Victor Hansen says that time has proven 2 of the laws/principles to be most important:
1) The Master Mind principle/process and
2) “Know very clearly where you want to go.”
If you’ve read any books about the current leaders of industry and highly successful people, you will hear the same thing …. They all had CLEARLY DEFINED, WRITTEN GOALS! They all knew clearly where they wanted to go!
Scientific Study Proves It – Written Goals Works!
In 2007, Dr. Gail Matthews at The Dominican University in Northern California performed a Scientific Study –
Why? – she and several other behavior researchers had heard about a Harvard or Yale study from the 50’s or 60’s that stated a certain percentage of Harvard )or Yale alumni had been more successful than others because they had written their goals down.
In their research, they found that the study never really happened. The statistics were non-existent – bunk that had been perpetuated by speakers since that time. But it never happened.
So they set out to find out “Would you be more likely to achieve your goals if you wrote them down?”
Their study included 5 Groups – ranging from Not Writing Goals Down to various levels of Writing them down with accountability or not.
The Conclusion of their study was –
The positive effect of written goals was supported! Those who wrote their goals down accomplished significantly more than those who did not write their goals down.
They found that you were 42% more likely to achieve goals if you write them down!
Do you want the odds to be with you? Then Follow Step #1 found in 9 Steps To Successful Goal Achievement – WRITE THEM DOWN!
Written goals will give you a 42% greater likelihood of GETTING the GOALS YOU SET!
Here is a link to Dr. Matthews’ Goal Study.
What does Clearly Defined, Written Goals mean?
Being Specific. Specificity when writing your goals will help the brain understand what you want.
Clearly defined, written goals should be specific. “Specific is Terrific!” – Tony Woodall Click To Tweet
Write your goals with Specific details as to what you want to achieve – This is Critical.
Grab a pen and a notepad and let’s work on some examples of your Clearly Defined, Written Goals.
For Example:
If you have a Weight Loss Goal:
You might write something like this:
When I wake up on May 1st of next year, I will step on the scale and be excited to see that I now weigh 185 pounds. I will put on my new 34 inch waist pants and go celebrate!
Specific goal of 185 #, On a Specific Date (we will learn more later about deadlines), and I will wear a specific waist size.
Or, If you have a Project Goal of some sort, say to remodel your home. You might write something like:
I will complete the renovations to my kitchen on March 12th of next year without incurring any additional debt.
In this goal, we have specific renovations, the kitchen, a specific date, AND an important part of the goal is that it will be done without incurring any additional debt.
This may be a very important part of the goal if you need to stay on a budget.
Goals are similar to Projects. Have you ever heard of Scope Creep? That happens when you have a project that hasn’t been fully defined and agreed upon. Things start getting added onto the project and eventually it starts creeping into more time, money or not getting accomplished at all.
Step 1 to Successful Goal Achievement is Write It Down!
Remember, when you start to set your goals. You must write them down, and be specific.
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This eBook has been one of my goals for years as well. When I created the Goal Getting program, I wanted to share the 9 Steps To Successful Goal Achievement to teach my friends how to set goals effectively and efficiently for maximum Goal Achievement.
Also, if you like what you hear and find value in our show, Subscribe to our show on iTunes and give us an honest Rating and Review. Tell your friends that have had a tough time achieving the goals they set to come and subscribe as well.
Tell them, Don’t Just Set’em, Get’em with us over here in the Goal Getter Nation.
