"They" say that people who write down their goals and steps to achieve them are considerably more successful than those who just rely on remembering their goals. Do you ever wonder if this really makes a difference? Does having a five year plan really matter? If we are focused on the end-goal, what happens to all of the time in between? To be cliche`, are we missing out on the journey just to get to a destination?
If you look up goal setting, you'll find SMART Theory - specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (Dr. Edwin Locke). Most goal setting comes back to this practice, with some small variations. Clarity, complexity, challenge all come into play. Feedback is key too, which relates to a recent Wired article about the brain.
It really comes down to your mindset about motivation, purpose and sense of self. It seems plausible that you'd be more inclined to write down goals that you are actually interested in achieving. According to Timothy A. Pychy's article, "Don't Delay: Understanding Procrastination and How to Achieve Our Goals", our perception of the difficulty to achieve the goal is reduced by our increased interest level in the topic. The hard part of this is really figuring out what is interesting to you as an individual. And deciding how to keep the goal present in your daily routine. We need regular reminders about what we want, where we are going, how to get there and the reasons to keep going.
It brings to mind a statement about yoga being a practice - yoga practice not yoga perfect. Take the time to be present and aware. Live in the moment as you want to be in the future. Be clear. Find challenging interests. Celebrate the success you find along the way.
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