Comments on: Meeting Your Goals #2: Making a Commitment

By: You Can Only Change Once You Accept That You're In Control | The BridgeMaker

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:55:16 +0000

[...] am fully committed to this goal and I will achieve [...]

By: Meeting Your Goals #1: Getting Focused — Aliventures

Meeting Your Goals #1: Getting Focused — Aliventures — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:52:59 +0000

[...] post in a three-part series on succeeding in meeting your goals. The next two posts can be found at Meeting Your Goals #2: Making a Commitment and Meeting Your Goals #3: Tracking and Measuring Your [...]

By: Meeting Your Goals #3: Tracking and Measuring Your Progress — Aliventures

Meeting Your Goals #3: Tracking and Measuring Your Progress — Aliventures — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:09:54 +0000

[...] This is the third part in a series on “meeting your goals”. The previous parts are Meeting Your Goals #1: Getting Focused, and Meeting Your Goals #2: Making a Commitment. [...]

By: Ali

Ali — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 07:58:40 +0000

Thanks Steve! Breaking a goal down is a great tip – some goals can seem overwhelming at first glance.

I agree that having fewer goals helps. I feel like I have one too many goals at the moment — though sometimes I suspect it’s not having too many goals that’s the problem, it’s all the other things we fill up life with..!

By: steve

steve — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:30:15 +0000

thanks for this! i’ve been using a few of these for a while–i especially have had good results with telling other people. also, for me, breaking the goal into smaller pieces so that i can systematically work my way through the project. also i’d mention that, for me, having fewer goals at once really helps, because then i don’t get overloaded. one big goal at a time is ideal, i think, though not possible for everyone.

By: Ali

Ali — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:36:31 +0000

Ah, Wesley, you’re getting ahead of me… I did actually write a paragraph about journalling as a means of tracking your progress (and staying encouraged), but decided to put that in the third part of this series. Look out for it on Monday!

By: Wesley Craig Green

Wesley Craig Green — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:41:27 +0000

Great follow-up to the first part, Ali!

I would add- in regards to journaling- that writing down what you accomplished that day which has taken you closer to your goal(s). I find that this helps me keep on track.

Also, it does help to have someone who you can trust and confide in regarding your goals. You can ask them to make you accountable and to help you keep on track.

Looking forward to more, Ali!

Wesley Craig Green
The Geek Entrepreneur

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 10:36:23 +0000

Jeffrey – Yes, that sounds good to me. I’ve not come across Og Mandino before, but I’ve read similar advice elsewhere. I would guess it’s the same principle as writing down and regularly re-reading your goals, or having a vision board or video that shows your goals: speaking them out loud each morning keeps you focused on them. (And I wrote about the importance of focus in part one of this series. )

Kaizan – Sid Savara (www.sidsavara.com) debunked it pretty comprehensively! I think the message there is important: writing down your goals has a lot of value. Like you, I know there’s no magic to it … writing just helps us find clarity, and it can be a valuable form of commitment. Also, writing can aid memory (ever written a shopping list and then found you didn’t need it? Or studied for an exam by writing things out in your own words? etc…)

By: Kaizan

Kaizan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:31:36 +0000

Hi Ali,

Very interesting post. Everyone always quotes the study about the 3% of a Harvard graduating class writing down their goals and then 20 years later they were financially worth more than the other 97% combined. I recently found out that is a myth. But a remarkably resilient one!

I still believe there is a value in writing goals, but contrary to the magical thinking professed by some goal “experts” I don’t think simply writing something down doesn’t make it happen! Like you said, there needs to be a commitment.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:57:21 +0000

This post reminds me of what the self-help guru Og Mandino once said (at least I think it was him). He said to write down the ten goals you have for yourself (or if you only have five, right them down), and read them out loud every morning. That way, you can subconsciously be working on moving yourself from your current place to the path where your goals lie. I haven’t personally tried it, but it sounds good, right?