DOES WRITING DOWN GOALS GUARANTEE SUCCESS?

Is there a correlation between writing goals and success?

I might be a little biased because I've been writing both short-term (annual) goals and long-term (10 year) goals since I was in my mid 20s!  I don't consider myself a success just yet, but I do credit my accomplishments thus far to the goals I've set for myself.  For me, it ensures that there is progress each and every year and I don't become complacent. 

Even though there are many different studies that have linked goals to success, I am not sure that one can say that simply writing goals will "guarantee" success! One fabled Harvard University study sure appears to reveal a very telling story though.  In that study, only three percent of Harvard MBA students questioned had set and wrote goals on a regular basis. The stunning revelation of this study is that 10 years later, 50 percent of the total net worth of the group was held by just three percent of the group which made roughly ten times as much as their fellow MBA classmates. They were the same three percent that had a habit of setting and writing goals as students, then continued to write goals and review them regularly!!

It is up to you to choose to believe if the link truly exists, but for me and my family, we have no doubt that our written goals have allowed us to show progress each and every year! Regardless if the link to success exists or not, there are still many DGI bloggers that we follow whom have set goals for themselves this year.  And since the beginning of the year is a very appropriate time to set short-term goals, you may have come across a few 2017 goals posts.  In case you may have missed them, below is a link to a few posts from bloggers that we follow:

2017 goals from around the DGI community:

• A Frugal Family's Journey
• Buy, Hold Long
• Desidividend
• DivGro
• Dividend Diplomats - Lanny
• Dividend Diplomats - Bert
• Dividend Dolphin
• Dividend Growth Investor
• Dividend Hawk
• Dividend Ten
• Get Financially Integrated!
• Passive Income Dude
• Pollies Dividend
• Retire Before Dad
• Retire by 40
• Roadmap 2 Retire
• The Dividend Guy
• The Expat Investor
• My Dividend Pipeline

In case you are interested in writing goals but don't know where or how to start, below is a quick 5-step plan to help you set and hopefully complete your goals:

1) Set goals that motivates you - Your goal should be specific to you. They should also be achievable (and not impossible).

2) Set measurable goals - Your goals should be specific. For instance, timelines and quantities should be spelled out within the goal.

3) Put your goals in writing - Your goals should be written down either on paper or in digital format on the computer.

4) Check on your goals periodically - You need to make a commitment to check on your goals monthly, quarterly or bi-annually.  And be ready to adjust your plan, current habits, or find extra motivation if progress towards a certain goal is falling behind. 

5) Celebrate the completion of goals - It is important to celebrate and reward yourself for completing goals or milestones. Use each success as momentum to complete the next. Big or small, it is important to recognize each success! 

Feel free to browse through the goals from fellow bloggers for ideas!!