Mark Wadsley
The Importance Of Writing Down Goals
Updated: Mar 5, 2022
Setting goals isn't a new thing. Every day people often set goals for themselves, whether that be financially, physically, mentally or spiritually. There are millions of ideas for goal setting - but one key component is often left out when doing so.
Over the past year or so, I've really doubled down on finance and self-development. Reading tens of books over that period, as well as surrounding myself with successful people online has really given me a completely new outlook on life. One thing I have noticed though, is that these successful people are tough on themselves when it comes to both their long term and short term goals.
Why is that? Because they want the best for themselves and they're not going to reach where they need to be if they go half-hearted. How are they tough on themselves? Well, that's a question I've been trying to find an answer to.
I must admit, I'll be the first person to tell you that I have been very ill-disciplined when it comes to improving myself over the years. When I've wanted to start getting in better shape, I've often done it for a few days - or given a new diet two weeks - and then given up and gone back to my old ways. With property, I knew I couldn't do this.
I've always loved creating things, whether that be Twitter news pages for football or creating a personal blog, but I've never stuck it out - and ended up quitting far too soon. My lack of discipline and self-accountability was at fault here, and I knew that needed to change if I wanted to be really successful in this game.
To conquer this, to begin holding myself accountable at all times and making sure I am disciplined at all times, I have started documenting my daily goals in a planner. This is what the wealthy people in our society do. It will make me see what I have/haven't achieved for the day, what I still need to complete and what I'm looking forward to doing.
Over the past couple of months, I've started going to the gym. I've never owned a membership before as I knew this was getting out of my comfort zone. Instead of springing back to old habits like I've done previously, the membership bill going out monthly is my accountability and the daily goal of "GO TO THE GYM" keep me motivated and disciplined.
I'm still very new to the goal setting, so over the next few months I am going to double down on being really, really harsh on myself but I know that its for the greater good. No longer can I stay in bed watching Netflix and thinking "Oh never mind, I'll do it tomorrow". That's not what billionaires think. I need to get my stuff done - and make sure I'm doing more than I've ever done before.
I also think, in a way, these articles are a way for me to hold myself accountable too. Once I publish each and every one of these, they are in the eyes of the public and I can no longer go back on what I say. I've always been strong on "Your word is your bond", so if I don't stick with something I have said, I become very frustrated with myself.
My advice to people who are looking at self-development the way I was a year ago is: stop being ill-disciplined, hold yourself accountable AT ALL TIMES and document your progress. It'll be quite fascinating looking back in years in the future and realising how far you've come.
