Writing Down Your Goals Increases the Chances of Achieving Them: A Scientific Perspective

Goals play a significant role in shaping our lives. They help us prioritize, focus, and stay motivated. But what makes some goals more successful than others? A growing body of research suggests that writing down your goals can significantly increase your chances of achieving them.

The act of writing down your goals engages both the cognitive and emotional parts of the brain. According to a study by Dr. Gail Matthews of the Dominican University of California, people who wrote down their goals were 42% more likely to achieve them than those who simply thought about them. In addition, the physical act of writing down your goals helps to solidify them in your mind and gives you a clear target to work towards.

Moreover, writing down your goals provides a sense of accountability. It creates a record of your intentions, making it easier to track your progress and hold yourself accountable. When you can see the progress you’ve made, you are more motivated to keep working towards your goal.

A study by Dr. Edwin Locke and Dr. Gary Latham, published in the “Journal of Applied Psychology,” found that specific, challenging goals led to higher performance compared to easy or general goals. Writing down specific and difficult goals helps to clarify the steps required to reach them and provides a sense of direction.

Finally, writing down your goals helps to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to achieving them – forgetting. Our brains are constantly bombarded with information, and it can be easy for our goals to get lost in the noise. Writing down your goals ensures that you will not forget them, even when other distractions arise.

Writing down your goals can significantly increase your chances of achieving them. The physical act of writing engages both the cognitive and emotional parts of the brain, provides a sense of accountability, clarifies steps required to reach the goal, and helps to overcome the obstacle of forgetting. So, if you want to achieve your goals, start writing them down today!

References:

• Matthews, G. (2007). The Impact of Writing Goals on Goal Attainment: An Eight-Month Study. International Journal of Behavioral Science, 2(1), 69-79.

• Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717.