Write it down and Make it PLAIN: Paste Your Vision on Paper

How many times have you tried to start a new habit, break an old one, or pursue a new goal? You try your hardest to work at your goal and even tell others what you are trying to do. You may even seem to be succeeding at first, but after a few weeks (or days) you begin to fall back into your old patterns. It can be very frustrating, right?

What is it about those people that seem to succeed at every goal they set for themselves? What makes them different from YOU? Is it their discipline? No. Is it their motivation? Maybe. Or could it be something that although it is much simpler than these things, is something that is so often overlooked? More often than not, the difference between those who succeed and those who don't - is that one group of people write their goals down while the other group doesn't.

Writing down your goals on paper may seem very simple. But in fact, it has been proven time and time again to be the most important first step of achieving any goal. Why? Because when we write our goals on paper, the act forces our brain to VISUALIZE what we want. In essence, it gives our mind a concrete state to work toward.

Here are the four rules to writing down your goals that I got from The Goal Setting Guide:


1. Write your goal in the positive.
Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write down and examine our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. Your subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right from wrong and it does not judge. It's only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get.

Thinking positively in everyday life will also help in your growth as a human being. Don't limit it to goal setting.

2. Write your goals out in complete detail.
Instead of writing "A new home," write "A 4,000 square foot contemporary with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and a view of the mountain on 20 acres of land". Once again we are giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The more information you give it, the more clear the final outcome becomes. The more precise the outcome, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become.

Can you close your eyes and visualize the home I described above? Walk around the house. Stand on the porch off the master bedroom and see the fog lifting off the mountain. Look down at the garden full of tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. And off to the right is the other garden full of a mums, carnations and roses. Can you see it? So can your subconscious mind.


3. Write in present tense.
Write your goals down in the present tense. This is because the unconscious mind chooses a path of least resistance. If you write, "I will be slim" the unconscious mind does nothing thinking that the will be may be postponed until later.
A friend had a business, which was losing money. He set his goal to break even the next month. Every month the next month would come and be this month so his goal would be true to break even the next month, which would never come. Eventually he changed his goal to, "I am breaking even this month." That very month he broke even for the first time.

Write them in present tense, first person, as if they are currently true.


4. Re-write your goals.
When the words are written and then repeatedly re-written they have maximum impact. So don't be content with a first draft. Write down your goal. Then rephrase it, compact it, add motivating adjectives, make it pithy. A week later you may want to adjust it again. Keep on fine-tuning.

Writing your goals down is the first step to make the goals more real. Somehow having things in writing really makes them seem more important to most people. It will also make it easier to make the plans needed to reach your goals if you have something in writing.

What are some of your goals?

To Your Success,
Alecia D.