There is a controversial 1979 Harvard University study on students that set goals. Here are the numbers:
84% had no goals
13% had goals but didn’t write them down
3% had written goals
Follow-up interviews done in 1989 were to have found:
The 13% were earning twice as much as the 84%.
The 3% were earning ten times as much as the 97% combined.
The controversy is that the research can’t be found. However, the likelihood of this being true is high based on some research that can be found. For instance, a 2015 study reveals people are 33% more successful in achieving their goals when they write them down. A 2006 study concludes that setting goals are linked with higher motivation, self-esteem, self-confidence, and autonomy.
Let me let the cat out of the bag right off the bat. Do your goals a favor and write them down. Writing your goals down takes engagement and purposeful intent. Why do people take notes anyway? It’s because what they are interacting with has enough substantial meaning that they want to recall it for future purposes. Now, writing things down isn’t going to make you successful in life. But you are one step closer. Our brains need engagement. Studies show that when we write things down, our synapsis fire in a different, more significant way, leading to the kind of brain engagement needed for increased memory and focus.
You could stop reading this article and say, “Okay, I got it. Write down my goals.” But that’s not it. When your pen hits the paper, your brain gets engagement, but you get life engagement when your dreams hit your heart. Writing down your goals will have no long-term effect if your goals are not attached to your dreams. Your first goal needs to be to write down your dreams. This is why you will need a life coach to help you here. Some people think they know what their dreams are, but they are mere wants and desires with little to no substance like getting rich and becoming famous. Jeanne Mayo, author and leadership coach, says, “Many people want what other people have, but they don’t want to do what it took for them to get it.” Other people have these deep burdens and have no idea what to do with them. They get frustrated because they want to do something with their life but can’t figure out what that “thing” is that is eating at them and keeps them awake at night. It’s your dreams trying to get out of you and direct you! Both kinds of people need a coach to help them make sense of it all.
What people tend to do is use a highlighter to go over their dreams and aspirations. But highlighting doesn’t get things to go from short-term to long-term memory. In his book How We Learn, Benedict Carey states that highlighting only tells the brain what is worth remembering, but doesn’t make the brain remember it. You must show the brain what is important, according to Carey. That’s why you need a coach. A good coach will help show you what is worth highlighting, what’s worth writing down, and what is worth going after.
Do your goals a favor - write down your dreams, and get a coach that will help you make sense of it all. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a goal and not achieving it, not because it wasn’t possible, but realizing after the fact it was. If you have faltered, failure is an opportunity. Do your goals a favor, get back up, and start to dream again. Let a coach help you!
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