6 Reasons You Should Commit Your Goals to Writing

As a business owner, every year, you probably make plans and set various goals for your company. You’re not alone – it’s a common ritual practiced by thousands of other small business owners and many people who don’t own a business.

Unfortunately, despite the obsession with planning and goal setting, few goals come to fruition. Instead, within a few weeks, all promises and oaths are forgotten and life becomes status quo for one simple reason – just telling yourself that those are your goals for your company or for your personal life doesn’t work.

Instead, if you want to achieve those goals, you have to put them in writing. One study from Harvard found that of those who had goals, just 3% of them had written goals.

There’s quite a bit of evidence that indicates written goals are far more likely to be accomplished. One study found that those who had written goals were 1.4 times more likely to succeed in achieving those goals than those who hadn’t written anything.

Still need some inspiration when it comes to writing down those personal and professional goals? Here are seven reasons to consider it. 

1. It Builds Clarity: You know what you want to achieve, but sometimes that can be a bit difficult. If you write them down, though, you’re more likely to be specific. In fact, writing them down means you’re likely to clearly define what you want. Maybe instead of writing down “Create enough savings to build a vacation dream home,” you write, “Save 40% of each month’s check to build a vacation dream home.” Then you have a level of clarity not only about where you want to be, but how you’re going to get there.
2. It Builds Your Motivation: To reach your goals, you need to take certain steps forward. That can’t happen if you’re not motivated to do so. Writing your goals down, though, can push you to create the necessary habits that will eventually help you achieve your goals. In fact, just putting them on paper will automatically create a sense of urgency that will move you closer to goal achievement!
3. It Helps You Focus: It’s easy to get distracted. You have a business to run, a life to manage, and lots of responsibilities that fall somewhere in between. Putting your goals on paper, though, pushes you to focus on exactly what you’re doing, and that means directing all of your available energy toward the goal at hand, which naturally translates toward better results. It may even be easier to dump the little stuff in favor of what you know should be in front of you. Those written goals mean a continually clear focus that you can look at again and again, which will help you stay on track.
4. It May Help You Dump the Stress: You have a lot going in your head. Moving those goals from your very chaotic mind to paper means you have one less thing to keep track of, which could actually help you be more productive. With your goals in mind, you’re likely to have better control of how you react and how you stay on track.
5. It Could Lead to Additional Goals: What if you were able to achieve a single piece of your goal? Would that lead to something new? Writing those goals down could inspire you to think of other positive changes you could make in your life, and that means you could even achieve bigger things than you’d initially dreamed about.
6. It Creates A Measurable Space for Progress: Things happen. Maybe you don’t hit your sales quota one month. Perhaps you go over budget. If your goals are written down, you’re going to be able to better track both your success and your failures, and both of those things can help you grow. More than that, though, it gives you an easy way to review the goal and check it off your list once you’ve reached it. 

Writing down goals allows you to bring more structure to your life. Every day you get up, you know what needs to be done. You have set a purpose in life and when you accomplish it, this can be a very gratifying experience.

Coming up with those goals can be tough, but once you do, commit some time to put them on paper. It could easily mean the difference between achieving them and leaving them in your head for another day.

For many people, enhancing your company is a solid goal, so if you’ve always wanted to start your business or work on the one you’ve already established, but you have very little idea of where to begin, AMB Performance Group can help unlock the keys to your success.