In The Power of Writing down your goals you learned how effective it is to write your dreams down and that you
are 42% more likely to achieve them if you do so. In
How to set goals? (SMART), we focused on how to set a goal in the first place.
This post is gonna be a little
bit similar. But instead of how to set your goals, we will now have a closer look at how to
write down your goals. What are the important things when it comes to the process of putting
your thoughts into words/sentences?
I recommend the 3P rule.
The 3P stand for:
Present
Positive
Personal
Present
Formulate your goals as they have already happened. So do not let it sound like you
see the goal somewhere in the future – let it sound like it’s in the NOW.
For example,
instead of saying “I want to buy a house”, you might say “I own a house”.
If you
pretend that you have already achieved your goal, your subconscious mind is much more likely
to receive it. Rather than just wishing that it magically becomes reality. Telling yourself
that you’re capable of reaching your goals, will also make you more confident and your goals
seem much easier to accomplish.
Positive
Secondly, phrase your goals in a positive way. They should motivate you and give you
a feeling of happiness when you look at them. For example, if you say you want to quit
smoking, that sounds more like a command. But if you say, I am a non-smoker, that is a way
more positive statement to the goal that stands behind.
Personal
The third P should make clear that it is about YOUR personal goal - so write it down
the most personal you can. So when you read them your head office recognizes this as an
order that counts for you. It helps if your written down goal starts with “I”. “I own a
house by the lake”.
After learning this 3P rule, I looked at my Bucket List and actually none of my points
start with “I”. I tried to keep everything on the list as short as possible because I think
otherwise it would be confusing. I see the Bucket List more like a checklist that reminds me
of the things I want to do in life. But on the TUES platform, you have a section where you
can describe your goals in more detail and I think, it definitely makes sense to use the 3P
rule in that case. But also just for yourself when you think about your goal.
So let`s repeat: Start your sentences with „I“, look at them as they
already have happened, and let it sound positive and motivational.
The more we know about how we can achieve our dreams, the more realistic it will feel
that we eventually can make them become reality. Learning even something small like “how to
write down your goal” (like in this blogpost) automatically brings you one step closer to
what you want to accomplish.
Autor: Joel Eggimann // Editor: Tracy Ray
