Setting Deadlines For Dreams

An illuminating study on goal setting sponsored by the Ford Foundation found:

• 23% of the population has no idea what they want from life. As a result they don't have much.
• 67% of the population has a general idea of what they want but they don't have any plans for how to get it.
• Only 10% of the population has specific, well-defined goals, but even then, 7 out of the 10 of those people reach their goals only half the time.
• The top 3%, however, achieved their goals 89% of the time!

What accounts for the difference between the top 3% and the others?

The top 3% wrote down their goals.

Can it really be that simple?

Dreams and wishes are not goals until they are written as specific end results on paper. In some very real sense, writing them down materializes them.

Goals should be thought of as "dreams with a deadline". Without writing them down how can you know where you are going? How will you ever reach any destination?

Written, specific goals provide direction and focus to actions. This creates a road map providing the directions of when to stop, turn, how fast to go and how far it is to the end. A map keeps you aware of today's location. By knowing your GPS and the specific directions to the destination, it is much easier to know where you have been, serves to guide what is ahead and ensures that you will arrive on time.

In public relations, I create road maps for other people and their businesses. It really is easier to do it for someone else. i.e. "the cobbler's kids have no shoes."

This week, I plan to write down a few of my goals (both personal and professional) with a timeline and set some deadlines for my dreams. Will you join me?