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THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Be A Goal-Setter
*I’m the type of person who likes to write things down. There’s my things to do list; my things to follow up on, such as words I hear but don’t know the definition of so I have to look them up list. Then there’s my “things to do before I die” list.
There are only about twenty things on the list, but for the past fifteen years I’ve been working on checking them off. I have lofty goals. I checked off scuba diving. I got certified in graduate school. Grad School graduation has a check next to it too. I’ve traveled to Southeast Asia, but there are still more places I want to see. I’ve started a company. It’s not a million dollar asset yet. So, no checkmark for those two.
By this time next month, if God’s willing and the creek don’t rise (like my mother always says), I’ll add something else to the been-there-done-that column. I will compete in my first weight lifting contest. Officially I need a win to check it off my list. I feel confident about the win. Unlike running a company, the end results are totally up to me.
There was a famous study done in the 1950s on a Harvard University graduating class. According to researchers, only three percent of the graduates had clearly written goals. Twenty years later the three percent who had written down their goals had accumulated more wealth than the other 97 percent combined. Being Harvard graduates, I’m sure the 97 percent had great talent, family connections, wealth and advanced education. But the study proves those things are no match for a motivated person with clearly written goals.
I’m no psychologist, but if you are serious about turning your dreams into reality you must have a plan. Why? Your thoughts become actions. Your actions become habits. And your habits help shape your reality. You know the maxim “If you fail to plan you plan to fail.”
What are your plans to accomplish your goals? What do you want to check off your list? E-mail me and we’ll come up with a strategy together.
Steffanie Rivers is a free-lance journalist in the Washington, DC metro area.
You can send her feedback at teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com
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