Before long, we will all be making our resolutions (for me, these are also called "Those Pledges I Make To Be a Better Me That I forget About By February").
Sure, lots of us would like to lose weight, or be more successful, or reach other personal goals - but it isn't as easy as just saying you want to do it.
Well, actually, it IS almost that easy!
It turns out that one key element in helping you reach these goals is something so simple, we take it for granted: WRITE THEM DOWN!
Yep. That's it - my big secret to success.
Writing things down makes you visualize your goal. You have to put some real thought into it, and chances are that as you do, you will visualize your own success. This is a well known motivational technique.
Writing goals also makes them more concrete. They are now real, and physical, and can't be fudged or conveniently forgotten ("Did I say I wanted to lose 30 pounds, I could swear it was only 15!"). It gets us to commit to the goals in at least a small way, and also provides us with motivation and inspiration to get us back on track when we waiver.
Writing your goals is a physical act to put the process in motion. Somebody much wiser than me said: "The longest journey starts with a single step." Writing the goals down is a small, but important first step.
There are some ‘rules' to writing these goals though:
Be explicit and detailed. Don't just write a general goal like "do more networking," but instead try "attend at least one networking event each month." The concrete number and detail helps you with the visualization and gives you a benchmark to shoot for (so you can't fudge it).
- Be positive. You must remain positive to achieve a goal, so writing a negative goal or using a negative within your wording inherently undercuts your efforts. To some extent, you can only achieve what you believe you can achieve - positive attitudes beget success.
- Write in the present tense. If you word something in the future, like "Next month I will lose 10 pounds," subconsciously you are thinking about it as a remote, far off possibility. Instead, writing "I am losing 10 pounds this month" makes it an active, current, and immediate thing to focus on.
It sounds so simple, yet less than 5% of us actually take the time to write our goals down. But every year there are millions of people like me who make the same tired resolutions and wonder why they never achieve them.
Not this year. Goal #1: I am writing my goals out tonight.
Best Wishes,
Joe Michalski
Sherlock Homes Inspections
http://www.sherlockhi.com/
;)
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