Writing down your goals improve your chances of accomplishing them. But do you know why? Writing triggers a part of your brain called the Reticular Activating System, or R-A-S. The R-A-S distinguishes urgent from non-urgent information and helps your subconscious mind focus. For example, it filters your name spoken on the other side of a noisy room, a baby’s cry from the sound of a cricket, or a dripping faucet from traffic. Writing your goal down sets up this subconscious filtering mechanism, and alerts you to the things that relate to your written goal. Once you start working on a written goal, the R-A-S sends your conscious mind signs and signals that you’re on the right path. These constant reminders keep your goal front and center in your mind, which means you’re more likely to take the right steps to achieve it. Here are some suggestions that will help you improve your goal-setting success:
- Start small. Write a list or a single sentence describing your goal.
- Connect with a friend. Write down one of their goals beside yours, and then the steps each of you are going to take to achieve them. Then report back to each other every week.
- Give yourself a deadline. Maybe not for the overall goal, but for individual steps.
- Go outdoors. Many people associate writing with school or work and this can conjure up frustrating memories! Change your environment. Go to the park or visit an outdoor café.
- Write down your goal(s) when you wake up. Early morning writing is great because your mind is clear.
- Look at your written goal(s) everyday. By reviewing your written goals on a daily basis, you enhance the power of your R-A-S.
Following these simple steps will help you achieve your goals. And if that doesn’t convince you, then check out the testimonial of Actor Denzel Washington. When he was a struggling young actor, he visited his mother’s beauty parlor. A customer there who saw his reflection in the mirror wrote, “This boy will speak to millions” on a piece of paper and gave it to him. Twenty-five years later, he still carries that paper with him. That prediction, if merely spoken, might have gone in one ear and out the other. So WRITE DOWN your goals and look at it everyday!
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