From Amanda's very early writing (1990s to early 2000s), shared as it was originally written.
setting goals
Leess than 5% of people have specific goals; lessthan 3%actively write their goals and less than 1% set specific deadlines to attain their goals.
This was reported in the literature from a young Presidents Organization University at which I will be speaking in July. Bill Bean an author and business man with an impressive list of creditentials and business successes quoted these figures in his course summary.
I don't know how or where he found these figures but I think the concept of goals is worth expoloring further. It sstill astounds me that more people do not think about let alone, write down thier business, personal and life goals.
It has to be the cheapest and most effective way to move you much clooser to where you want to be inlife. That's if you've taken the time to think about where you would like to be!
Why do so few poeple a) think specifically about goals in their lives and b) fail to write them down? Perhaps it's because we don't understand how the brain works? Or perhaps we are just lazy? Or we just don't understand how effective a technique this really is?
Whatever the reason. I hope that if you are not a goal setter already you will be one at the end of this article!
Firstly, our brain works in inrcedibly complex and sophisticated ways and it is wonderfully equiped to keep us on track - once we set one! Simplistically ,we can think of our mind as comprising two parts- the conscious and subconscious minds. Sort of like the captain of a ship and the person in the engine room driving the ship. The captain represents the conscious mind
and the engine room person the subconscious.
As the captain is on the bridge, he can see what is happening and make decisions based on the information he has; he sends these deciions down to the engine room person (the subconsscious) who in blind faith (literally, because s/he can't see anything) carries out these orders.
In essence, it is the engineroom person who is leterally running the ship with direction and guidance from the captain (conscious mind). If the captain fails to give the engineroom person any instructions, either nothing happens or the engineroom person makes any decision they can based onthe limited information they have.
So, if you fail to think about your path in life, the direction you would like to take, the place you would like to end up, and how you would like to travel in your life, then your 'captain' has no directions for your 'engineroom person'. So who knows where you will end up?
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It's important to set goals so your subconscious mind has some purposeful direction and guidance.
I don't really believe people are lazy - I think they have never been exposed to the significance of goal setting. Have you ever been at a seminar or conference and someone has made you write down a few goals based on what you learned? You travel home, file the notes somewhere and several years or months later you uncover the notes. And to your amazement, you achieved all those goals without specifically focusing on them?
Ah ha! That is the power of our subconscious. Once we give it a focus and target, it sets it's track like a guided missile - unless we change the direction we initially encoded, it will steadily and surely make it's way to the specified target.
It is extraordinarily powerful in achieving what you want - so why not try it? There's nothing like personally experiencing the benefits.
If I give you some questions that can trigger your thinking, you may choose to make a list of goals at the end of this article. Which to set in ' subconscious concrete' you need to write down. It's important to be as specific as you can so your target is well identified for your subconscious - otherwise it may find a close but not exactly what you wanted target.
Age is never a barrier - you are never too young or old to think about and write down goals.
What do you want to be doing at work in the next 12 months? At the end of five years? At the end of 10 years? When you retire?
What do you want you home life to be like now? In 12 months? In five years? In 10 years? When you retire?
What sort of relationships do you want in your life now? In 12 months? In 5 years and in 10 years?
What hobbies would you like to develop? Or what new skills would you like to learn? By when? (eg tennis, photography, painting, dancing, playing a musical instrument, scuba diving, writing novels, sport, fitness etc)
What are activities that recharge your life batteries? Do you do them often enough? If not, how often would you like to be doing them? (realistically! You can't have a massage every day - yet!)
What new business skills or communication or listening or relationships skills would you like to enhance in the next 1/2/5/7/ 12 months?
What fun activities would you like to have in your life? How often?
What holiday would you like to have this year? And for the next few years?
These are just some of the millions of ideas around which you could set goals. The more specific you are the more likely you are to achieve exactly what you want. Remember you can constantly upgrade your written descriptions as you or your life changes.
Go on - be in the one percent that maximize their potential and get what they want! Or at least have a chance of getting it. Buy a 'goal book' to track your success. Enjoy!
