Write Out Your Goals

Amazing things can happen when we take the time to write about a hope or aspiration that is in the back of our mind, or hidden somewhere in our heart. Most of us have heard about the "proper" way to set goals. As effective as it may be to follow a disciplined goal-setting regime, do we do it? Not usually.

The good news is that we can still see results even if we write out our hopes and goals in a haphazard way and at irregular times. There is something about the very act of writing it down that makes the goal solidify and start to move toward becoming a reality.

Intro photo by the author.

Achieving a goal starts in the heart, not on a list of do's and don'ts

Every year a lot of people make New Year's resolutions. We set impossible expectations for ourselves. Sometimes we even set ourselves up for failure. Then we get frustrated with ourselves when we don't keep our good intentions. But were those lists of resolutions really dreams from our heart? Or were they the standard "everybody should do this" sort of nattering?

Instead of setting the usual goals to become thin and wealthy, why not dig a little deeper into who you really are and what will make your life more satisfying to you?

Write the vision. Make it plain.

If you enjoy writing at all, then you might want to try writing out a goal just to see what happens. You can do this in a journal or simply on a sheet of paper. Think about a problem you want to solve, or something you would like to see come into being in your life. Pour out your thoughts on paper just as they come to you.

Don't worry about doing it the "right" way. Don't feel you have to follow a method that you've read about. Just talk it through using your pen or pencil. Describe why you're frustrated and what you want to change. Write what you would like to see happen. Jot down all the roadblocks, all the things that are making your dream unlikely. Imagine what your ideal solution would look like.

You could be very surprised at what happens

Write it all down. If you can't see what the solution would be, then be satisfied with writing about what needs to change and why. How would your life be better if it did? You may write it the whole thing down at one time or over multiple sessions, maybe even over many weeks.

Something about the act of writing clarifies the issues and highlights the steps you should take. Surprisingly, the solution will begin to appear. You will start to see a clear path to take, and soon it will be so obvious that you will wonder how it was ever possible that you didn't know what it was.

But it is amazingly effective

Writing out a goal is not a magic wand. Not everything that we think or write about is going to turn out the way we would like. We may never be thin or independently wealthy. But it is wonderful to see how often committing our dreams, hopes, aspirations and even our problems to writing can help us sort out what to do and how to get where we want to be.