Why Write Down Goals or Dreams?

People are often curious why a person should bother writing down their goals and/or dreams. While many people may at first believe it to be a pointless exercise, it nonetheless deserves some attention and consideration.

Perhaps the most basic reason a person would do well to scrupulously write out exactly what it is they desire to accomplish is so that they can solidify in their mind exactly what it is they want. Many times we have a general idea of something we want to accomplish, but it often isn't until we actually write it out and bother to explicitly define it, that we are able to get down to the “nitty gritty” details and fully grasp the object of our desire. In this sense, writing it out helps a person form a more coherent idea of what is it they want which in turn provides them with a “better picture” to pursue. The reason it is better to have a well defined goal as opposed to a vague and generalized one is because things which are vague and general are, for the most part, not nearly as motivating as something well defined and thought out. Is it more emotionally rousing to want to “go on vacation” or to explicitly define where it is you will go, who you will go with, what you will do and what it will mean to you?

Another reason it's a good idea for a person to write out a goal and/or dream is so they can focus on it or “keep it before them” as described in the previous post. A written statement describing a goal should be used to help “keep one's mind” focused on the very thing they want to accomplish. This is why it is suggested that a person read their written statement aloud. When a goal or dream becomes a dominating thought in the mind of an individual they begin to think in terms of accomplishing it and are thus able to begin developing concrete plans for its attainment. If we reflect on the five-step process described in Lesson III: Goals and Dreams we find that each step builds upon a foundation provided by the previous step. Thus, a person cannot focus on a goal if the goal has not been defined, nor can their goal become a dominating thought if they fail to focus on it, just as the ideas needed for planning cannot be developed without goal-oriented dominating thoughts, and so too action cannot follow without a plan of any kind. We find that the process of bringing an idea, goal or dream into reality presupposes a kind of chain which cannot function properly in the absence of even one link.

At this point an objection can be raised. Isn't it possible for a person to define and focus on their goal mentally and thus not need to resort to writing it down? Yes—such a thing is definitely possible—and there may be people who can succeed in doing so. But it should be strongly emphasized that if a person does attempt to do what has been described without writing anything down, they are much more likely to lose sight of their goal or forget they had it to begin with. The reason it is suggested to write out a goal or dream and focus on it is because it is simply a more reliable method which yields better results.

Another point of relevance which is not discussed in the book is the importance of attaching a time-frame to one's goal or dream. In other words, determining an expected length of time needed to accomplish a given objective. This can be used in conjunction with writing down or defining a goal and can offer some added benefits. To begin with, giving oneself a length of time to accomplish something adds some urgency to the goal itself. If a person says they want to do something “someday” they are essentially removing any urgency to accomplish it. They can always say that “someday” they will get around to working on it or whatever. In addition, when a person attaches a time-frame to a goal they also create a mechanism to measure their progress, which in turn contributes to the urgency of accomplishing the goal. If your time-frame is “someday” then you have no real time-oriented way to measure your progress in accomplishing your goal. But if your time-frame is (say) one year, your progress or lack thereof can be measured against the amount of time you have remaining to complete your goal.