The SECRET to Achieving Your Goals
Let’s talk about the importance of setting goals!
We talk a lot about getting health and losing weight at Vfinity, so we’re going to use weight loss as our example. Most often, we don’t clearly define the goals we want to achieve. We constantly hear people telling us, “I want to lose weight.” Losing weight is a goal, so it needs to be clearly measurable and defined by saying: “I want to lose weight by making healthy lifestyle choices, eating clean, taking my Vfinity products, and doing regular exercise.
When you compare both of these statements:
- The first one states what you intend to do.
- The second one says what you intend to do AND exactly how you plan to do it. It is defined and measurable!
According to a study on goal achievement, people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them than those who don’t. In this study, they asked a group of graduating students to set goals for themselves. There were three groups of students
- Those that set goals but didn’t write them down.
- Those that set goals AND wrote them down.
- Those that didn’t set any goals.
They interviewed the student group many years later, and the study uncovered some interesting information. Those who set goals and did NOT write them down earned twice the money as those who did not set any goals. The former students who set goals AND wrote them down earned ten times as much income as the students who set goals but did not write them out.
Most people don’t ever take the time to write down their goals. Instead, they go through life wondering why their plans never work out, and this is because they don’t understand the importance of writing down their desired goals.
Four reasons it’s essential to write down your goals:
1. It acts as a reminder
Writing down your goals helps remind you of what you are trying to accomplish. We forget many of our good ideas without even realizing it. These exciting ideas disappear just as quickly as they pop up into our heads. One way to prevent this is to write down your thoughts as soon as they pop into your head. Then, when you see the goals you have written down, it reminds you of your objective.
Having a reminder of what we plan to achieve sets us up for a greater chance of achieving our goal.
2. It’s a way of bringing your thoughts to life
Our dreams and ideas will remain stuck in our heads until we write them down and commit to achieving them. Most people have big plans for their lives, but they risk not ever achieving them if they don’t write them down.
3. It’s a way to track your progress
It’s essential to keep track of your progress if you want to achieve your goals. You should also keep track of the areas where you aren’t successful. That way, you are likely not to repeat the mistakes you’ve made in the areas you aren’t thriving. When you have a record of the progress made in achieving your goals, you will feel encouraged to try harder. It will also help you to know what’s working that you should adopt and what’s not working that you should drop.
4. It helps you sort out opportunities
As you begin to achieve success in some regions of your life, you will find more opportunities coming your way. Sometimes these opportunities become a distraction that can push you off track. To solve this problem, you will need to continually evaluate your list of written-down goals and put aside those things that might force you off course.
The secret to achieving your goals in life involves writing them down in a well-defined manner that can be measured.