5 Reasons You Should Write Down Your Goals

Are you like me, where every time I focus on one thing, a zillion other things pop up? It’s like I try to sabotage myself. But really I don’t, I just forget, very easily, that I have already set something in my mind to focus on and do.  You can say that I’m easily distracted, it’s part of my personality. The other challenge I tend to have is that I don’t like to say no. If someone has a new idea, new opportunity, needs to me volunteer, I’m usually the first to say yes.

Part of my problem is that too many times I have kept my true focus, my plans and goals, only in my head. I have to remember it on a daily basis and keep it forefront of everything else going on for the day.

Think about it, I’m setting a new goal to have 15 minutes of quiet time for myself. This is only in my head, I mean, how hard is it to forget that I want quiet time? The day begins. Breakfast. School work for the kids. The dogs need some attention. Shower time. What’s for dinner, oh yeah, need to run to grocery store. Oops, time for dinner. Husband needs me. Play games with the kids. Wow, it’s bedtime already. How in the world did I not get in a measly 15 minutes of quiet time for myself?!!! Maybe tomorrow.

For me, this was a big failure. I was not given the skill to keep it all together in my head and expect to remember and have great results. (What’s ironic, funny and frustrating, is that as I’m writing this, a dumb fly is buzzing around my head, talk about a distraction!)

Make a Decision

The answer?

I had to learn to make a change and write these important things out.

The first thing I did was to read a great book called, Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend. I know many you have read it and have benefited from it as much as I have and you may have even heard me mention this book before. The main purpose in this book was to learn how to create boundaries for yourself, and part of that was learning how to say no. A very hard task for some of us. But much needed to live a sane life.

If you haven’t read this book yet, it’s a life-changing one, and I highly recommend it.

Write it Down

The second step in keeping your focus is to write your goals and intentions down. This is such an important step, even if you can remember every little detail of every single day, like the rest of my family, you still need to write it down. Life gets busy, it’s easy to become distracted.

Statistics show that when you write down a goal, you are 42% more likely to achieve your goal. Why is that? There are a couple of reasons. The first, when you write it down, it is easier to remember. Second, writing it down usually means you are making a plan, which means that it’s more important to you if you actually took the time to write it down. Third, that plan tends to be in front of you, in sight where you can see it everyday.

5 reasons why you should write down your goals.

1. Clarification – It will force you to clarify what you actually want. Getting it down on paper will help you to take it from a floating and often fleeting thought to a more solid plan.
2. Take Action – When writing down your plans and reviewing them on a daily basis you are more likely to take action on them. It’s not only enough to write them down, but seeing them everyday, making a plan to accomplish and stay focused on that goal and actually taking action will help you to achieve what you intended to do.
3. Filter Out Other Opportunities – Having a plan that is written out and scheduled on your calendar will help you to filter out other opportunities that come your way. This will help you to say NO to all those things that try to distract you. If a new opportunity arises, check your plan, does it help or hurt that plan. Will it benefit that plan? Say no if its not going benefit you at this time. No doesn’t mean never, it just means not right now.
4. Overcome Resistance – Writing it down will help you overcome resistance to your goals. When you see and remember that you took the time to write it down and plan it out, you are more likely to continue to take action. Stay focused on what you want now.
5. Celebrate Success – You will see and be able to celebrate your success along the way. As you see that you are sticking to and reaching steps in your journey to reach your goal, you will be more likely to continue. There is something about marking off a step and being half way to your goal that keeps you excited and motivated to finish.

This might all sound great, but if you don’t actually write down your plans, goals and desires and take action on what you’ve written down, then that goal will end up forgotten and thrown away, like the many other.

Make a decision to make a change. Then make that change. Write down your goals. Plan them out. Keep them in front of you as much as possible. Acknowledge your accomplishments.

It is much more satisfying to go through life knowing that you are accomplishing things that you actually planned on doing. Not just living haphazardly letting the wind blow you this way and that way.

Live on purpose. Your family needs it. Your children need it. Your Spouse needs it. YOU need it.

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