This one is so big it deserves its own infomercial. When you order, I’ll send you two for the price of one. I won’t even make you pay shipping and handling. This has to be the best deal in the history of time.
What is this great product you ask? Could it be the next Snuggie? While it isn’t soft and warm, this one will make you feel great inside and out.
I’m talking about goals.
You can’t go through life without setting goals. Half the time you don’t even realize you’re doing it.
When I play golf I have a new goal on every hole. The goal isn’t to make par or birdie. Rather, I look at the hole and start to work backwards. I imagine what side of the hole I want to putt from, how far out I want to be from the hole when I hit my wedge in. To get to that point I need to think about how far to hit the ball off the tee and which side of the fairway to target.
By knowing where I want to finish, I can work backwards, one shot at a time, and give myself the best chance at success.
When we were only a few years into our marriage, your Mom and I sat down and made a list of our goals. It didn’t take long and they all fit on a small sheet of paper. These were all long term goals, things we wanted to achieve in 10 years. But something amazing happened, we reached everyone in half the time.
According to a Harvard study, 83% of the US population do not have goals. What’s worse only 3% will bother to write them down.
Here is the crazy thing. If you bother to set goals, you will be 10X more successful than those without. Even better, if you write them down, you will be 3X more successful than the group that has them in their mind.
I love the phrase “there are no silver bullets in life.” It reminds me that nothing comes without hard work. But, holy cow, if the simple act of writing a goal can increase my chances of success over 30X, I’d be crazy not to do it.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, a famous French writer, said “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
I don’t know why writing goals works, but I have learned a few things over time. When I write them down, I get more from my thoughts than the words on the paper. Writing forces me to think through possible solutions. I imagine completing the goal and in the process this gives me confidence that I will.
Saving money is a goal that I always keep on the list. Not saving for savings sake, but a goal of what I want to do with the money. If I don’t I’ve found that I will spend carelessly.
I remember when we wanted to buy a new house. We knew we needed to save for all sorts of things. That goal lasted over a year. During that time we made great spending choices. Looking back, I can’t tell you a single thing that I missed from saving that money. If we didn’t have the goal that money would have flown out the window on all sorts of things.
The other thing I love about goals is that they hold me accountable. This doesn’t work very well if I don’t write them down. If I do, I can pull up that list every day and see how I’m doing. Each accomplishment puts the wind at my back and pushes me along to my next target.
Goals also let me dream. I say dream, because some of my plans seem out of reach, some might say crazy. For example, before you kids go off to college, I have a dream to travel for 6-12 months as a family. This may be one of the best educations you ever get. It will also create a shared experience like nothing we’ve ever done.
It is not enough to have dreams. I also need to have a plan. If I don’t I’ll be a ship at sea with no compass to guide me.
Recently, I went through a process of defining my values. I did this before writing a single goal. These values serve as a guide or test. When I’m thinking about my goals, I always have this list close by so I can test them. If a goal doesn’t align with my values, I start over.
Goals help me exceed my own expectations. For example, one goal I have right now is to write three of these letters a week. For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing between four and five. I also have a goal to play twelve rounds of golf this year. I am already up to fifteen.
I love having goals. It reminds me of what’s important every day. Author Diana Scharf, put it this way, “Goals are dreams with deadlines.”
I for one, want to reach all my dreams. If the simple act of writing them down helps make that possible, I am all for it!
This post is part of a series of letters to my kids. My goal is to reflect on and capture as many life lessons as possible. Here is the current list I am working from.
