Following on from my previous newsletter (see below) here is the next instalment of 15 things I've learnt about human beings and success in 8,000 hours. Last newsletter was Learning No.12   For every obstacle there will always be several solutions  

 

This week it's  No. 13

 

Write Down Your Goals and Dreams and Review Them Regularly

 

The graduating class of 1953 from Yale University was asked how many had written down goals for what they wanted to achieve in life. Only 3% actually had documented goals. Twenty years later, when members of that same class were interviewed, the net financial worth of that same 3% was greater than that of the other 97% combined! Mmmmmm, interesting.

 

Thinking about what you want in life is important but it's not enough. It is good to dream but it is only the beginning. I'm sure we all know people who talk about the wonderful things they believe will happen in their lives but somehow those things never appear.

 

 

Why Write Down Your Goals?

 

The early personal development pioneers like Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale and Dale Carnegie, told us to do it but now we have scientific research that helps us understand why it's essential.

 

Your mind works with images. The subconscious (the majority of activity happens in the subconscious mind) can only work with what we give it. If I asked you to tell me what your future looks like, how real is that image? Would it be rich and detailed? For many people the canvass of their future is blank or sketchy. The only images they have are of the past or what is currently happening and often the focus is on the things they don't like. Hence they keep experiencing the same things in life. Lack! Drama! Stress! Disappointments!

 

If the mind has an image then the subconscious can click into action and begin to create other ideas and strategies. They just somehow come to the surface (consciousness).

 

My Observation Over the Last 10 Years

 

I always knew it was important to write down your goals but the last 8 years of coaching clients has shown me over and over again how essential and powerful it can be. For example, in my 12 week 'Dare to be Your Best' program their are 17 pages called the dream pages. Each page has a heading such as 'Places I want to Go', 'Feelings I Want to Have', 'Career', 'Health and Fitness', 'Personal Development', Traits in a Partner, etc. Clients have 6 weeks to think and write over 500 things they want to happen. When we evaluate those pages in the final session some clients have found that many of the things they wrote have actually happened already; almost unknowingly. Here is the amazing thing though, (that I don't tell too many people as I'm sure they'd think it was marketing hype), the record so far, is over 200 of the 500 actually happened.

 

Once you've written the goals and dreams down, it's important to visit them regularly and bring them to mind again. This reinforces their place in the subconscious.

 

John Goddard's 'My Life List'

 

One rainy afternoon an inspired 15-year old boy named John Goddard sat down at his kitchen table in Los Angeles and wrote three words at the top of a yellow pad, "My Life List". Under that heading he wrote down 127 goals. These were not simple or easy goals. They included climbing the world's major mountains, exploring from source to mouth the longest rivers of the world, piloting the world's fastest aircraft, running a mile in five minutes and reading the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica".

 

The list is impressive but the results have been incredible. Since then he has completed 108 of those goals. Read John Goddard's list here.

 

Any questions? Just email me anthony@anthonvennbrown.com or discuss on my facebook wall.

 

Anthony Venn-Brown 

Coach - Author - Speaker

+61 (0)416 015 231