Journaling To Arrive At Solid Goals

The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible. There are numerous studies and mounting evidence that confirms the simple act of writing down a goal and a plan increases successful outcomes. According to a landmark Harvard study, setting goals and writing down your objectives enhances your motivation and increases your likelihood of success. In the 1979 Harvard Business School MBA study on goal setting, the graduating class was asked a single question about their goals in life. The question was this: Have you set written goals and created a plan for their attainment? Prior to graduation, it was determined that:
  • • 84% of the entire class had set no goals at all
  • • 13% of the class had set written goals but had no concrete plans
  • • 3% of the class had both written goals and concrete plans
10 years later, the 13% of the class that had set written goals but had not created plans, were making twice as much money as the 84% of the class that had set no goals at all. The 3% of the class that had both written goals and a plan, were making ten times as much as the rest of the 97% of the class. That’s 10x!! Well, perhaps just getting through the Harvard MBA program is enough of a goal in itself. So, perhaps the goal and plan was something like this: Goal; Be successful in life Steps:
  1. 1. Achieve academic excellence
  2. 2. Attend the best schools
Not a bad plan. Let’s say the the goal is to become a VP by the time I am 40. VP of what? We all have short term goals and resolutions for things we want to achieve in life like; proper weight, diet and exercise routines. But like the Harvard student, the VP and like the high school student moving on to college, shaping and defining goals and direction, discovering what we want to do with our lives, is the big question. So the mother of all goal setting probably is, “What do I want to do with my life, the majority of my waking hours, which will bring me a meaningful and fulfilling life as well as financial security?” I dunno. However, at least I’ve asked the question. Setting goals is all about asking the right questions of yourself. Otherwise, I work hard to get to VP and when I arrive and achieve that goal I might find my goal was too shallow and undefined to be fulfilling. Well, maybe you’ve thought about several professions but still aren’t sure. A family friend worked extremely hard to put himself through medical school, sacrificing a great deal only to find out he really couldn’t stand to be around sick people. Oops! It’s certainly okay to say, “I don’t know yet”, but how do we get closer? By asking ourselves the right questions we get closer. For many people attaining wealth is a primary goal. This is so they may have enough money to do enjoyable, entertaining and recreational activities, provide for their family and retire early. The ends justifies the job. So again this poses the second big question, “What suits me better? Spending 40 years making big money only to have weekends and retirement to look forward to. Or, ideally I would like to really enjoy and be passionate about my work?” If your answer is the later, perhaps you need to ask yourself some more questions about creating the ideal “big picture” goal. We’re going to go really big picture here because it’s often the process of asking ourselves the big questions that gets us to the better vision. In this case it’s a career plan, so let’s go as broad as we can. What is the scope?
  1. 1. Space (the final frontier)
  2. 2. Planet Earth (ecology, biology, geology)
  3. 3. Humanity (people, medicine, goods, services, finance, games, tech, structures)
  4. 4. Innerself (spirituality)
Does anything jump out? Can you eliminate a few? Now let’s consider some tools available to assist us in going further by understanding ourselves. Along with developing our creative expression, this is what journaling is all about and we see it here again in this process of Self′-actualiza′tion N. the achievement of one's full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world. (Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010), is about understanding ourselves in relationship to the world around us. Next, read our post on Journaling To Reveal Your Strengths and take the free, no registration required, personality assessment on 16personalities.com. Personality tests are not a panacea but can definitely give you some clues as to your disposition and potential career alternatives that might better suit your personality. From the survey write down the results, as suggested, in your journal on a page titled “Who Am I?”. Include the “Career Path” suggestions on that page. Take some days or weeks to thoroughly consider those suggestions and see if any start to spawn continuing intrigue. Now another aspect of shaping your big picture goals is to ask yourself these questions:
  1. 1. What do I journal about most?
  2. 2. Besides understanding myself better, what external things do I find myself admiring the most or thinking about the most?
Is it lifestyles? Houses? People? Music? Games? Sports? Clothes? Destinations? Adventure? Bodies? Cars? Technology? Social Media? Art? Humor? The Opposite Sex? We all think about these things but what do we think about most? This may be an additional clue as to your ultimate big picture goal an another clue to your passions or it may reveal obsessions that present obstacles to your success. Stay tuned for more posts on removing obstacles from your path and replacing negative habits with more positive habits.