You are 4-5 times more likely to reach your goal just by writing it down. I know this to be true from the external research we have observed and studied and the work we have done with high performers in sports, business, and life. I have spoken about this to groups and taught this in workshops and in one-on-one coaching sessions with my athletes. I have also experienced this to be true in my own life.
Yet, there was a time when I had not written down a goal in a certain area of my life. It was National Running Day, and the Rock-N-Roll Marathon Series ran a special one-day rate if you signed up for any of their marathon races. I committed and signed up for the San Antonio Marathon.
The context for this is that I had been running a lot over the past year. I had also been telling my friends and fellow runners that I was going to run a marathon, but I never got around to it. I was telling them as well as myself that I was in “marathon training;” yet I was not committed to a specific race – i.e. an end goal in mind. When I hit “Submit” on the web site, everything changed for me. I became committed to an end goal and all of my training took on a new meaning.
It is easy for us to go through life like this – to espouse what we are about or what we want to be about but never do anything about it. Some people want to lose weight. Others want to be a better spouse, parent, or leader in their organization. I have learned that it is easy to be a goal espouser, but sometimes harder to be a goal achiever. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to just talk about goals, I want to achieve them and be better because of the journey to reach them.
[shareable cite=”Mike Van Hoozer”]”I have learned that it is easy to be a goal espouser, but sometimes harder to be a goal achiever.”[/shareable]
I sincerely believe that the first step to goal achievement is writing it down, which is why I love Michael Hyatt’s Best Year Ever program for writing down the right goals for your life! I used this system last year and achieved some strong, lifetime goals in my life and have signed up for the VIP program again this year!
If you want to get serious about achieving goals – the right goals – I encourage you to sign up for this great system that incorporates a process and program that will serve as a major catalyst in your quest to be more than just a “goal espouser” in the new year and beyond!
For more on the benefit of writing down your goals, check out my friend Michael Hyatt’s blog entry about the benefit of committing your goals to writing.
[reminder]What goal or dream has been lingering in the back of your mind that you need to commit to by writing it down and then pursuing it passionately and purposefully? [/reminder]