Are you the type of person who writes down a list of things you want to achieve or do in life? Or do you just go with the flow, living day to day with no specific plans?
If a famous Harvard goals study is anything to go by then we should all be writing down our goals if we want to have a greater chance of achieving them.
In 1979, the students of the Harvard MBA program were asked, "Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?" Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all.
Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing. The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about the three percent who had clear, written goals? They were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.
When you write down your goals they suddenly become real, and are no longer just dreams flying around in your head. So grab a pen and a paper or open up Notes on your phone and start writing them down. They don't need to be fancy but working out what you want is the first step in achieving them.