Why Setting Goals is a Fabulous Idea...Amazing Research will Motivate You

We all know we should set goals.

We know they are good for us, important to our success, and even necessary to accomplish much in life.

This is nothing new.

The problem comes when, even knowing how important goals are, we fail to set them, write them down, and actually get working on them.

Human nature is often filled with delays, objections, laziness, and procrastinations... we just do not always do what we know is good for us.

Sound familiar?

I came across some amazing research several years ago that instilled in me a strong desire to set goals. It has been a powerful force in my life.

I need to remind myself of this right now, so thought I would share it with any of you who may need a little spark of motivation as well.

So consider this post a friendly reminder and motivator to help you set and achieve your goals!

In the inspiring book, What They Don't Teach you at Harvard Business School, Mark McCormack, writes of a Harvard study, "conducted between 1979 and 1989 asking graduates of the MBA program, "Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?"

"It turned out that only 3 percent of the graduates had written goals and plans. Thirteen percent had goals, but they were not in writing. Fully 84 percent had no specific goals at all, aside from getting out of school and enjoying the summer.

"Ten years later, in 1989, the researchers interviewed the members of that class again. They found that the 13 percent who had goals that were not in writing were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent of students who had no goals at all. But, most surprisingly, they found that the 3 percent of graduates who had clear, written goals when they left Harvard were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent of graduates all together. The only difference between the groups was the clarity of the goals they had for themselves when they graduated."*

The conclusion of many experts is just having goals, and writing them down is a powerful motivator to accomplishment and success.

Of course this alone is not enough but it seems that the very first step of clarity of goals often sets one on the path to achievement.

Do you have clear goals?

Have you writing them down?

Do you look at them every day?

I know I am revisiting my goals and getting clarity on where I want my life to heads.

Without a goal we are often wandering in the wilderness, unsure of where we want to go. Once we set a clear goal we have a direction. We have taken the first step to embracing our desire.



*This summary of the Harvard research is taken from Brian Tracy's fabulous book, Goals, How to Get Everything You Want - Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible. I highly recommend this book for those who are interested in success in life.