“Life can be pulled by goals just as surely as it can be pushed by drives.” Viktor Frankl
For many years now psychologists have studied what makes a having a goal to be successful work for people. Why is goal setting so important to being successful? As part of this study hey looked at a lot of people that achieved what they wanted in life, they looked at Athletes, Scientists and Business superstars. The one thing all of these people have in common is that they set goals to become successful and they made it happen.
One of the keys to setting up the right goals for yourself is to visualize reaching this goal that you have done it whatever it your goal may be. Jack Nickolas the famous golfer explains when asked about what makes him such great golfer he describes the scene in his head in detail: he ‘sees’ the ball where he wants it to finish - the color of it and it’s surroundings. He then ‘sees’ where the ball goes next - its path, trajectory and shape, even its behavior on the landing.
What he is really saying here is that you need to really “see” yourself going for what you want and getting it. You have to be specific about what you want and how you will get there it is not enough to just dream about it you have to plan out the dream.
You have to plan it all out on paper not just in your head.
If you read the book “What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School”, by Mark McCormack you will see that a study done back in the 1970s at Harvard Business School, that asked the students if they had written out clear goals for themselves and their future and only 13% had clear goals and of those none of them had taken the time to write them out. A whopping 84% had no real solid goals for the future at all. 3 percent of this class had clearly planed out and written out their future goals. Then ten years after this study the same students were asked how much money they were making on average and the students who had clear goals were making about 2 times as much as the ones that did not have any clear goals. And the 3% they were making as much as 10 times their fellow classmates.
One of the reasons it is so important to write down your goals in detail is so that you can see all the steps you need to take to reach you end goal. If you have it all planed out then you can see the obstacles that are in your way.
Further studies have shown that setting goals in this manner works well every time. Kids and adults who were not really exercising were asked to write down when they would exercise and how what they would do for exercise and they found that 91% of the people did do what they planed when they wrote down a clear plan. They were able to see schedule conflicts and other things that might have otherwise stood in their way.
How you feel about your goals will also make a difference. If your goal is something you really want to achieve then you will work harder to get there. That is why it is important to set small goals as well as large ones. The small ones help to build your self-confidence. The more small goals are successful in completing the better you will feel about your ability to reach the larger goals.
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Yogi Berra
About the Author
Morris N. Mann, P.D. – Morris has a Ph.D. in psychology, and for 10 years has provided coaching and Morris N. Mann, P.D. – Morris helps professionals and private business owners gain success in business and true happiness for themselves. He has worked for over 15 years as a business executive responsible for marketing and systems management in international product and service companies. He has a Ph.D. in psychology and has been offering coaching and life training services for over 10 years.” life training services that helps professionals and private business owners gain success in business and true happiness for themselves. He has worked for over 15 years in marketing and systems management in charge of international product and service firms.
Featured image provided courtesy of opensourceway.
