Step 5: Write Your Goal Down

You’ve probably heard hundreds of times that it is crucial to write your goal down. But do you know why this step is so important?

When you put pen to paper you turn your thoughts into something tangible. You can actually see it, touch it, and even smell it if you want to. Your goal is no longer just a thought! It becomes something, what motivates us and creates a gut feeling inside.

Even the act of using the eye in coordination with the hand holding the pen makes a much stronger impression on our mind as we write out the phrase or expression. Now when we read and re-read that phrase or sentence the impression on the mind becomes deeper and deeper.

There is something semi-magical about writing one’s goals down which makes achieving well-written goals an almost certainty.

Here are the four rules of writing goals down:

Rule #1: Write your goal in the positive.

Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write down and examine our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. Your subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right from wrong and it does not judge. It’s only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get.

Rule #2: Write your goals out in complete detail.

Instead of writing “A new home,” write “A 4,000 square foot contemporary with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and a view of the mountain on 20 acres of land”.

Once again we are giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The more information you give it, the more clear the final outcome becomes. The more precise the outcome, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become.

Rule #3: Write in present tense.

Write your goals down in the present tense. This is because the unconscious mind chooses a path of least resistance. If you write, “I will be slim” the unconscious mind does nothing thinking that the will be may be postponed until later.

Write them in present tense, first person, as if they are currently true.

Rule #4: Re-write your goals.

When the words are written and then repeatedly re-written they have maximum impact. So don’t be content with a first draft.

Write down your goal. Then rephrase it, compact it, add motivating adjectives, make it pithy. A week later you may want to adjust it again. Keep on fine-tuning.

Writing your goals down is the first step to make the goals more real. Somehow having things in writing really makes them seem more important to most people. It will also make it easier to make the plans needed to reach your goals if you have something in writing. Putting it in writing breathes life into it making it a force which cannot be easily stopped.

Write your goal down and let’s go to the next step!