In 1996 the US Olympic committee asked 1976 Olympic decathlon, gold medalist Bruce Jenner to speak to all the Olympic hopefuls at the Olympic Training Center. He asked them three important questions and I am going to ask you the same three questions. Jenner’s first question to the group was:
“Raise your hand if you have goals.”
Every single hand shot up. He then said to them:
“Raise your hand if you wrote your goals down.”
This time just half of them raised their hands. When he asked his third and final question:
“How many of you have your written goals list with you right at this moment?”
Only one person raised their hand. It was Dan O’Brien, and he pulled his goal list out of his wallet. Why is this significant? Out of that entire room filled with the best of the best, Dan O’Brien was the one who went on to win the gold medal in the decathlon at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. (He also won the world championship three years in a row and went on to win the 1998 Goodwill Games.)
How this relates to YOU: His success is not just based on athletic ability. It has a lot to do with the fact that every single day he got up and had a clear vision and reason for what he wanted to accomplish.
The Lesson: Never underestimate the significance of writing your goals and keeping it before you.
Why? Written goals kept right in front of your face help you focus on keeping the main thing, the main thing.
The Bottom Line: What you think about expands!
You may not be training for the Olympics, but if you want to win in the sport of business and accomplish extraordinary things in your personal life you need to not only set goals, but write them down and keep them right in front of you.
Self-reflection:
- Celebrate 2012 goals you achieved.
- Identify (and eliminate) the factors that kept you from achieving others.
- Do you have goals for 2013?
- Did you write them down?
- Are they with you at this moment?