Set Your Goals on Paper

Do you have clear goals? Have you written them down? We are always hearing about goals and how important they are and yet most people only have vague goals.

A study was conducted with the Yale Graduating Class of 1953. They surveyed all the students asking them whether they had written down goals for their life:

• 3% had put their goals in writing
• 97% had not written down goals or even thought of any at all.

Twenty years later, these same people were re-interviewed. The astonishing result was the the 3% who had written down their goals were enjoying incomes ten times greater than those of the 97% combined!

Many people think of goals in terms of their buying power for materialistic items like a big house with a pool, a sports car, a boat, a new kitchen but for a truly balanced life choose goals in each of these six areas:

1. Family and Home
2. Financial and Career
3. Spiritual and Ethical
4. Physical and Health
5. Social and Cultural
6. Mental and Educational

Rather than only financial goals, consider the sort of family you want to have, the sports you wish to pursue, clubs you wish to join, community groups you can contribute to, voluntary programs you can join, how far you want to go in formal education and the subjects you will study in your adult life. I have a friend who is reading two Bachelor degrees simultaneously with The Open University, just for interest. Success University offer short on-line courses in all areas of life.

Goals must always be stated in the positive. Your subconscious mind cannot distinguish between a positive and negative so if you say, "I will not be untidy", your subconscious interprets that as, "I will be untidy." That will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Be specific in your goals. "I want to earn more money" is not specific and you may receive the answer with a 1% pay increase. Instead state, "By age XX, I shall be earning XXX amount of money." You might say, "I want a sports car" and be offered a 20 year old MG by a friend when in fact you had a Ferrari in mind. If you can clearly see what it is that you want, if you can visualise and describe it in writing or with a photo or drawing, your subconscious will lead you along the path to making a reality.

If you want to visit somewhere unknown, you need a map. So think of written down goals as creating your map. Choose words and pictures to cement your destinations in your mind. Make a montage and call it your goals board, or your dream board if you prefer.

If you want to own a certain model of car, find a good photo and include it in the montage. Perhaps you want to visit somewhere specific eg Paris or Japan so find a photo which instantly makes you think of that place. Cut photos out of catalogues.

Place this dream board where you can see it daily. Share it with people close to you as this makes a commitment on which your subconscious can focus.

"If a man knows not what harbour he seeks, any wind is the right wind." - Seneca

Someone write, "A dream is a goal without legs." To change a dream into a reachable goal requires clarity, details, a clear vision on which you can focus so that you can recognize opportunities along the way to its attainment.

If you do not know what your goal looks like, how will you recognize it when you reach it?

© Antonia Harrison 2007.

Antonia Harrison is an English Hypnotherapist in Belgium specialising in change, helping clients to overcome unwanted habits, improve confidence, program their lives for prosperity and relieve stress-related illnesses.