THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL GOAL SETTING

THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL GOAL-SETTING — Why Writing Your Goals Changes Everything

Do you ever wonder why you haven’t achieved some of your dreams and ambitions? You might be part of the 84% of people who have no clear goals—or one of the many who have goals but never write them down. Here’s the shocking truth: only 3% of people write their goals AND achieve them, and writing your goals down can boost your success rate by 42%.

In this episode, we uncover the science and strategy behind powerful goal-setting. You’ll learn why written goals activate your brain’s encoding process, helping you stay focused, overcome distractions, and move with clarity.

You’ll discover:

• Why unwritten goals fail
• The psychology behind writing your goals
• How world champions like Michael Phelps used written goals to win
• How to write goals that actually guide your life
• How to break big goals into small, achievable steps
• How reviewing your goals keeps you on track

Start transforming your vision into reality.

Get your free goal-setting template here 

Check out my website
If others can do it, you too can—and with God, all things are possible.

Transcript

THE SECRET OF SUCCESSFUL GOAL SETTING (SPOTIFY)

Do you wonder why you don’t achieve your dreams, ambitions, and desires? Maybe you’re among the 84% of people who have no goals! Or, you have genuine goals but never achieve them.

 Here are some statistics to rattle your mind! Only 3% of people set goals and achieve them! When you write your goals down, you increase the chances of success by at least 42%. 

 Welcome back to 3-point inspiration, where we discuss personal growth, purpose, and courage. My name is Bessy Ebule.

Most of us have goals: you want to complete the degree, or start exercising, or save more money? Not bad at all. But when these goals are muddled up in the 70,000 thoughts that you must process each day, they might not even be remembered!

So, here’s what you need to do! Write down your goals. When you write, your brain engages in deep encoding of the information. Encoding is the biological process by which the things we perceive travel to our brain’s hippocampus, where they’re analysed. From there, decisions are made about what gets stored in our long-term memory and, in turn, what gets discarded. Writing improves that encoding process. In other words, when you write something down, it has a much greater chance of being remembered, and better, than when you just think about it. This can help you stay focused on your goals and avoid distractions.

 If you don’t write your goals down, you will have no clarity or direction, no accountability, and tend to forget them. There’s also a lack of motivation to chase them and difficulty measuring progress. You can now see why you may have genuinely set goals in the past and yet failed to achieve them.

 So, here’s how to effectively write goals using a structured process so that you can increase your chances of achieving them.

 1.        LET YOUR GOALS BE CLEAR 

 Writing down your goals helps you clarify what you want to achieve. When you write them down, you must think about what you really want and what steps you need to take to get there, making it easier to stay focused and make progress towards them.

 Your written goal must answer the question: What exactly do I want? You want to avoid vague goals like “I want to be successful”. What would success mean for you? Completing a degree? Getting married? Getting a dream job or managing your own business?

 American swimmer Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 gold medals. Phelp’s training was not just physical; he wrote down every training goal under the supervision of his coach. This clarity helped to shape his routine that made him successful. 

 You should always be intentional about your goals. If you go to the gym, how many minutes will you do cardio? How much calories do you hope to burn? If you are a student, how many topics would you want to cover when you study? If you are reading a book, how many pages or chapters will you be reading at a time. 

 Have a dedicated notebook, app, or device where you can write down your goals depending on your preference. Ensure it is consistent and visible. Do not leave you goals to chance. For example, I will exercise if I have the time. The chances are you will never have the time! 

 Start with three simple goals or one if you like. The good thing about personal development is that you set your own rules. So, take the opportunity to define what you are chasing. You can categorise into different areas, personal e.g health or character growth. Professional e.g. job, business, study. Financial e.g. savings or investments.

 I personally believe an old Chinese Proverb, “the faintest ink is more powerful than the strongest memory. No matter how small the goal is, write it down. If you want to shape your future, do not just think about your goals, write them. When you write your goals daily, your brain begins to believe them, and your actions naturally align.

 2.        BREAK YOUR GOALS INTO SMALL CHUNKS 

It’s good to have a big goal such as writing a book, finishing a course, or getting married. But it’s also very necessary to understand the many small processes that culminate into this goal. If you want to write a book of 200 pages, how many words, pages, or chapter will you write in a week or day? If you want to finish a degree, how will you structure your studying so you can excel in the individual courses? 

 Often, your goals might seem very big and almost impossible to achieve. Such as running a marathon, setting up your own business, or finishing a degree. However, having several smaller goals makes each of them a bit easier and gives you a feeling of success along the way, which also makes it more likely that you'll stay on track towards your bigger goal. For example, writing a hundred words, will seem insignificant to completing thirty thousand words if you were writing a book.

 It is always very easy to announce your big goals out of excitement, but what keeps you going would be the structure you put in place to sustain the momentum and keep you going when there is no motivation. 

 3.        REVIEW YOUR GOALS REGULARLY

It is a good idea to regularly review your goals to see what is working or not. Do away with unrealistic goals. For example, wanting to run in a marathon next week when you hardly exercise your body currently. Or hoping to set up a business and start making profit immediately. Try reviewing weekly, monthly, quarterly, half yearly, and yearly.

  If you had the goal of reading one book a week, ask yourself at the end of the week why you finished or could not finish the book within a week. Did you dedicate enough time to reading? Did you have other commitments that did not allow you focus on the book? Did life get in the way or was the book too big for you to finish within the time. If you find the answers to these questions, then it would be a good idea to adjust as necessary, then review again the following weekend.

 Writing your goals is not just a motivational activity, it is a scientifically supported tool that increases achievement, builds confidence, and strengthens identity. So why don’t you start writing your goals down today.

I have created a free Personal Development Plan/goal setting template that can guide you in your goal writing. You can download it from the description or visit my website bessyebule.com for more.

 I will love to hear if it helps you in any way! So let me know how you go in the comments below.

  Remember if others can do it, you too can, and with God all things are possible. See you next time. God bless you.