Write It Down

We’re having some construction done to our house, and we are looking forward to it. The Contractor came by and marked the spaces in paint on the ground. Now that we can see the paint marks we are getting excited. Somehow it seems real now that there are marks on the ground. Silly, but true. Seeing our project in ‘hard’ writing somehow makes it all come to life.

Something magical happens when we write things down. I don’t mean typing or texting, I mean using a writing instrument and your hand. Putting your words or thoughts or ideas into hard copy triggers something in your brain. When we can ‘see’ things we have written down our brain gets involved and begins to think. The idea begins to come to life and our reticular activation system wakes up and starts working. We suddenly see things that relates to our idea. We hear things that relate, we can imagine the tangible connections between steps and the magic begins.

A survey was done of Harvard Business School graduates twenty years after they graduated. Each was asked to report on the progress of their goal from graduation. Only nine percent had actually reached the goal they set at graduation. What was discovered was that they did something different than the rest of the group – the other ninety-one percent…they wrote it down and looked at it everyday.

It doesn’t take a college degree to reach your goal, it only takes tenacity. It takes wanting it badly enough to write it down and let your mind begin to work on your behalf. If you want something badly enough, write it down. If you have a goal or destination you want to reach, write it down. If you want to start something new or develop a unique proposition, write it down. Taking it from your head to your hand begins the process of making things happen.

So where are your goals written down? Do you have the courage to write it down and look at it everyday? I dare you…I double dog dare you!