Do I need written goals?

Published On: August 24, 2009

HOME::Business/Strategic-Planning X Do I Need Written Goals? By J Timothy Connor J Timothy Connor Level: Platinum Tim Connor is president of Rodeo! Performance Group, Inc., an Ocala, Florida based group of facilitators, consultants, and coaches working with all sorts of businesses, ... ... Article Word Count: 514 [View Summary] Comments (0) "I've got the goals I want here in my head -- I don't need written goals!" Sound familiar? Does it really matter? What's the big deal with written goals? Believe it or not, Mark McCormack laid out a study done with students of the 1979 Harvard MBA program that demonstrates results all business owners and executives would find interesting. In his book "What They Don't Teach You At Harvard Business School" Mark reviewed the original question asked the members of that class: Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them? 3 percent of the future MBAs answered "yes". 13 percent had goals, but those goals were not in writing. 84 percent of this elite group said they had "no goals at all"! 97% of the class had no written goals, 84 percent with NO GOALS AT ALL! Interesting, huh? It gets better (worse?). Ten years after the initial questioning the class members were interviewed again: the 13 percent who had goals, even though unwritten, were earning on average, twice as much as the 84% with no goals. The 3% who had written their goals, however, were earning (on average) ten times as much as the other 97% put together. Have I got your attention yet? Focus Why the astronomical difference? First of all, written goals do a better job of focusing you on your goal, especially when they include an action plan. When you write a goal down, you'll find yourself asking, "Is this how I want to write this - is this something I can really DO?". The actual exercise of writing forces you to think more carefully about what you are going to write. It makes you turn the goal over in your mind, probably rewording it several times, and in that process of re-thinking you will find that you better clarify what you're actually planning to accomplish. So right off the bat, you have a head start on the guy who isn't writing. Application Second, written goals, for some reason, have a built-in "push" behind them. Simply put, you are much more likely to complete something you've written down than you are something you've "just thought about". Don't believe me? Think about a goal you have had in your mind for the past few years - one that you have NOT written down. How much have you actually accomplished toward that goal? You've probably found yourself starting on it numerous times, depending on either guilt or periodic enthusiasm, but more than likely you've never accomplished anything lasting with it. It's interesting, too, that putting off WRITING goals down is one of the most common forms of procrastination. Git 'R Done Now is a good time to write your goals for the year ahead, and really, how long will it take? Half an hour to sit down and write them, another half hour to do some action planning to get you there? Are you willing to set aside that hour before closing time tomorrow? Do it, and see what a difference it makes by this time next year. The author of this article, Tim Connor, is president and founder of Rodeo! Performance Group, Inc., an Ocala, Florida-based group of facilitators working with businesses and executives who want to make their businesses competitive on a global scale. Tim can be contacted at timconnor@rodeopg.com, or by phone at 1-877-284-0009. Visit Rodeo! on the web at http://www.rodeopg.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J_Timothy_Connor