Urban legend often speaks of a Harvard Business School study where a mere 3% of students wrote down their goals.  Interestingly, ten years later, these 3% were earning ten times as much as the other 97% of students put together.  Wow!

Turns out, despite how many times the above study is referenced, it appears to be mere folklore.  But, other studies are validating there appears to be some truth in this urban myth after all.

One study was based on 149 participants from 6 countries.  Those who wrote down their goals accomplished more than those who did not write down their goals.  To top it off, the differences were significant.  (Academics love the word significant.)  And those who shared their goals with others accomplished even more.

Why Does ‘Writing it Down’ Have an Impact?

Writing things down does several things, including:

  •  Makes your goals more concrete and specific
  •  Encourages you to filter out your most critical tasks
  •  Adds the reinforcement that is often necessary to turn a goal into a reality
  •  Creates a formal mechanism for you to share your goals with others

 Applying This Lesson

If you’re not already doing so, there are several things you can do starting today:

1)      Write down your plan for each day.  Do this the night before so you are primed to sink into a meaty project as soon as you get back to work the next day.

2)      Maintain one central TO DO list.  Don’t rely on your memory.  Write everything down.

3)      Create project plans for bigger chunks of work (i.e., 5 hours or more).  Define the key activities and timeline.

4)      Communicate your plan with other people.  This added accountability will bring you one step closer to achieving each of your goals.

5)      Ask your team members to write down their goals.  Together, refer back to these goals periodically to reinforce accountability and measure progress.

 Make it Happen

Lee Iaccoca once said: “The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.”

We know that the best way to reinforce a lesson is to apply it.  When it comes to writing down your goals, take some inspiration from Nike: Just Do It.