Tony Robbins once said, “Repetition is the mother of skill.” And he is right.
When it comes to setting and achieving goals, most people get it wrong to think that all they need to do is to just write down their goals ONCE, and then things will magically happen according to their plans.
Goal setting is a skill. The more you do it, the better you become. This is why it is important to write down your goals every day.
In my blog post here, I shared how Scott Adams, the successful cartoonist for Dilbert comic strip, becomes the most syndicated cartoonist because of this daily habit.
His Dilbert cartoon strip has been featured in more than 2,000 newspapers across the world, in 65 countries and 25 languages.
How did he achieve that? Well, Scott credited his success to his daily habit of writing down his goal. This is what he wrote in his blog:
“I’ve often written about my own experiences with affirmations, the practice of writing your goals 15 times a day. It seems to work much of the time, at least in my experience, but presumably not because of any magic. At least one probable explanation for its perceived effectiveness is that focusing on goals changes the person who is doing the focusing.”
Yes, Scott Adams wrote down his goal of becoming the most syndicated cartoonist in the world 15 times a day.
That is the power of daily goal writing. When you write down your goals every day, here are some of the positive things that will happen to you…
1. It conditions your mind for success
When you constantly write down your goals, you are directly programming what you want into your subconscious mind.
You are telling yourself what you want to accomplish and then your mind will make it happen.
Do you know that goal setting is a scientifically proven way to restructure your brain cells so that you can focus on getting the results you want, hence, becoming more successful in your own terms?
Here’s what this article on Inc.com says about setting goals:
“Because your brain has something called neuroplasticity, goal-setting literally changes the structure of your brain so that it’s optimized to achieve that goal.”
This is why writing down your goals every day is key to achieving them.
2. It increases your commitment
Besides, doing so will make you committed to your goals. Think about it, if a goal isn’t important to you, do you care about writing it down?
No, not at all.
This explains why most people fail to become successful because they don’t bother writing down their goals at all. They are not committed to their goals, and thus, they don’t care about their goals, let alone writing them down.
When you sit on your chair, take a pen and write down your goals on a notebook or a piece of paper, and you do it every single day, you are telling your mind that your goals are important to you.
And that is why you choose to write them down and you do it every day. And guess what, it increases your commitment to your goals and help you achieve them.
3. It makes you proactive
Think about a day when you have nothing to do. How will you spend your day? Most likely you will wake up late. And then you may spend time on Facebook for an hour or so. What about watching Netflix and playing games?
This is what people will do when they have nothing in mind. They become reactive and respond to things that happen to them. If their friends call them up for a drink, yes, they will join.
However, if you write down your goals and you constantly remind yourself of what you must accomplish, it makes you proactive.
You become conscious of the results you want. Therefore, your goals give you direction and allow you to plan for your days, weeks, months, and even years ahead.
When you have a goal and a plan, you are less likely to respond to what is happening around you. Instead, you will become proactive and get things done rather than waiting for things to come to you.
“No one ever wrote down a plan to be fat, broke, stupid, lazy, unhappy, and mediocre. Those are the things that happen to you when you don’t have a plan.” — Larry Winget
4. It sparks your motivation
Your goals should inspire you and motivate you to take action. If you don’t feel motivated for your goals, most likely those goals are not what you truly want to achieve.
When you have a goal that inspires you, you will wake up with energy and motivation every morning, looking forward to work on it.
On the contrary, when you lack an inspiring goal, you will feel life is directionless and boring. You don’t have something to look forward to and something that challenges and drives you forward.
In my Goal Setting Formula masterclass, I shared how you need to tap into your inner potential like your beliefs, meaning, and purpose to make your goals empowering.
And this is what makes writing down your goals every day something fun to do and inspirational. When you have something exciting to pursue, you will live a fully charged life, not a lifeless one.
5. It improves your focus and productivity
By now, you should know that the act of writing down your goals every day helps improve your focus and productivity.
This is because you give clear instructions to your mind of what you want to accomplish and what you want it to do.
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score” — Bill Copeland
You see, when you write down your goals every day, you are priming your mind over and over again.
It then becomes automatic and your mind will look for the right resources like people, events, actions, and opportunities to help you reach your goals.
Just like when you constantly think about a red car in your mind, and when you take a drive on the road, you will notice more red cars on the road than before.
That’s the power of focus.
Of course, when you are focused, you are able to accomplish more. As a result, you become more productive than ever.
Action Steps
Don’t just read this article and do nothing about your goals. Make a plan to write down your goals from now on.
You can do so every morning after you wake up or before you start your work. The key is to make it a habit through repetition.
In short, here’s what you can do…
- Step #1: Every day, write down your goals in your journal or paper. Choose to focus on 2 goals, one professional goal, and another personal goal.
- Step #2: Write down the purpose why you want to achieve these 2 goals. What are you going to get if you achieve them, and what will happen if you fail at them.
- Step #3: And repeat this process every day. You can choose to write down your goals and read out your ‘why”.
If you do this consistently until it becomes your daily habit, your life will start to change. You will find that you become more focused, able to accomplish better results, and making huge progress toward what you want in life.
