The Power of Written Goals: How I Built a House with Words

You already know about persistence. It's more than just important. Persistence is a requirement for success.

And persistence starts with motivation.

If you're not motivated to start the hard work involved in every successful business, you won't persist until it's done. You'll be like most people who talk and think and plan ... but don't execute.

And you will fail.

So, to motivate yourself, write down the BIG GOAL that your work will help you achieve.

Better yet, cut out a picture from a magazine that clearly shows what you're after, whether it be a new home, a car, a vacation or whatever. Put this picture on your desk or next to your computer.

The next time the going gets tough refer to your written goal or the picture of what you're really after. This will force you to focus on the outcome of what you're doing, and take your mind off the arduous task at hand.

Here's an example from my own life ...

While engaged to my fiancée in 1994, I wrote down this simple goal on a 3x5 card: "By June 24, 1995, I will build my wife a house with words."

I wasn't sure how I would do that exactly, but it sounded good at the time -- especially because I was doing it for my wife. There's extra motivation that comes from doing work to benefit others.

I kept that 3x5 card in my wallet and read it out loud at least once a day. Then, things began to happen ...

Within a year, I got a great job as an Associate Editor for a marketing communications firm in Minneapolis.

And on September 1, 1995 (only about 60 days late!), my wife and I moved from our cramped apartment to a nice little house in the city, a block from a park, two blocks from a dozen restaurants, and just down the road from gorgeous Lake Calhoun.

I didn't plan how to do any this in detail. I simply knew that I would be living in a nice house as a result of my writing. I was right. But it happened only because I had a written goal that motivated to persist through the many, many long hours of work necessary to reach that goal.

So ... what motivates you? What is the BIG GOAL that your work will help you achieve? Write it down. There's real power in having a written goal, with a deadline, that you carry around with you and read out loud often.

Sure, you may have heard about the power of written goals before. But ... what are you doing about it?

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