Goalsetting 101...Write Your Way UP!

It's summertime. It's HOT. And nobody wants to think about goals. My only goal right now is to stay as cool as possible. I am a frequent public bus rider and it was an extra bonus to get on the bus today and have the driver tell me that bus rides are free whenever there's a heat emergency. I thought that was pretty awesome. She said it's so people who may be in need can have a place to be where they can stay cool in the air conditioning for a little bit. Hearing that inspired me to set a goal of looking for opportunities to buy cold water for someone outside that may need to hydrate. That is one of my new goals. Wish me luck!

I was asked on a podcast recently about how we can help our young people set and accomplish goals. I immediately thought about what I do, which is to write my goals down on paper. Research has shown that writing down your goals and having them out in plain sight can increase the likelihood of you accomplishing your goal by around 40%. I like those odds!

Every day I try to be intentional about making 3 lists...a Today List, a To Do List, and a

Ta Dah List. My Today list are things that I hope to accomplish today. My To Do List are things I need to accomplish, but not necessarily right now or today. More long term goals, or longer than today term goals, if that makes sense (I'm not sure it does). My Ta Dah List is a list of things I have accomplished today or recently that I'm excited about or proud of. That list I make at the end of the day when I'm doing my evening reflection.

The bottom line is, when you write something down you're more likely to accomplish it because it's not lost up in your head among the thousands of other thoughts swirling around up there. One of my best friends

Shaun Derik always says, "Success doesn't happen by accident, it happens on purpose." Writing down your goals and then creating a plan to accomplish them will push you one step closer to those goals ending up on your Ta Dah list!

Here's a real quick video that explains the importance of writing down our goals and 3 quick questions we can ask ourselves in order to propel is towards actually accomplishing our goals. As always, if you like this, share it with people you care about.