Goal-Setting: the first step to manifesting your dream
Today, I want to talk about goals. About the difference between a dream and a goal, and how you can actually start to make progress on those goals you have.
I see it time and again with pretty much all of my clients. (In the interests of full disclosure, I see it pretty often with myself, too.)
You’ve got a dream, and it’s something you really want to accomplish. You keep thinking about it as a goal, but it’s one of those fuzzy, someday goals.
It could be “learn Italian, for that trip I want to take to Italy someday.” Or “write a historical novel featuring a character who worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory during the time of the deadly fire.” Or “create a meditation and yoga space for myself in the spare bedroom.”
Maybe you have taken the first few steps. You’ve downloaded Duolingo. Bought a couple of nonfiction books about New York City in the early 1900s that focus on or mention the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. Created a Pinterest board full of lovely inspiration for your new meditative space.
You mean to work on it, but other things keep getting in the way.
I hate to break it to you, but you have not actually set yourself a goal.
You are still working with a dream.
Dreams are lovely. They exist for multiple reasons. They are a place to escape to that is away from your reality. They can be exciting. They are a source of delight and can be a source of inspiration.
It is 100% okay for you to have dreams that are only ever dreams: someplace you can mentally escape to and lose yourself for a bit of time.
If you have a dream that you would really like to see realized, then you need to convert that dream into a goal.
How to create a goal
Choose a due date or deadline.
First, set a due date for that goal. It can be a week, a month, a year, or five years. But come up with a time frame during which you are going to work to make that goal come true.
Why set a due date (or deadline)?
It creates urgency. The difference between “someday” and “next Tuesday” is easily understandable, and the expectation that something will be done by a certain point in time helps you to focus. It kicks your brain into gear.
It creates accountability. Nobody can call you on not making progress if you don’t have a time-bound goal. You can never be “behind” on something that has no due date attached. Adding that date makes you accountable to get it done.
It creates focus. If you know that something is due, and that you are on the hook (accountable) for doing it, you are far more likely to focus on that particular goal or task. Something that is due next Tuesday is more likely to stay on your radar than something that is due next month. Something that is never due? That gets pushed allllll the way to the back of beyond.
Write it down
Second, WRITE IT DOWN!
Writing your goals down is the beginning of the manifestation process. When you write a goal down, you are literally beginning to manifest it by pulling it into the real world.
I believe that thoughts exist in the ether, basically, unless we share them in some way. They swirl around our head, waiting to be recognized and claimed.
When you pull that thought out of the ether and write it down—especially if you write it by hand—you are participating in the first step of manifesting. You have taken something that was invisible, and made it visible. You have taken something that was intangible, and made it real.
The reason to do this by hand (if you are able) is that writing by hand creates a stronger memory imprint and allows your brain to process and recall your thoughts better than typing them does. Writing by hand activates more brain centers than typing does; it allows you to remember what you wrote even if you never bother to read it.
Writing something down tells your brain that something is important to you. If you write out your grocery list before going to the store, odds are pretty good that you are going to remember almost all the things on that list even if you leave the list at home. If you write notes during a presentation or meeting, it’s usually the stuff that is important to you that makes it to the page. That is the stuff that you really want to remember.
The same goes for goals: when you write them down, you are storing them in a way that ties in long-term memory, as well as creating an external record of your thoughts and ideas.
You can, of course, write it down in a one-and-done manner. Set a deadline and pull that goal out of the ether, capture it on paper here in the real world, and you have made the conversion from dream to goal.
Boost the energy of that goal!
If you want to really give that goal extra power, write it down daily. Make it part of your daily routine or ritual. Whether you do it before you start work, before bed, or during your lunch break, writing your goal down every day increases your chances or achieving that goal by keeping it front and center in your mind.
It reminds you to take or schedule your next action step. It triggers your brain to remain on the lookout for things that can help you to accomplish your goal.
For instance, if your goal is to learn Italian by next March, and you write it down each morning, it may remind you to open your app or program or book to practice. It may also help you to notice that a friend of yours actually knows Italian already, so that you can set up time to practice with or learn from them.
If your goal is to write that historical novel, writing down your goal will remind you to start doing all the tasks involved—that could include outlining the work (if you are a writer who uses an outline), figuring out what you need to research, reading source material, etc.
In the same way, if you write down your goal of creating a calm meditation/yoga space in your spare bedroom, it could help you remember to start decluttering the room, or trigger you to recognize something that you would like to put into that room for yourself, instead of passing it by.
Next week, I’ll delve more into how to write a goal in a way that makes it more easy to manifest. In the meantime: Set that due date, and write that goal down. And if you want to superpower it, write it down at least once a day.
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