A study at Dominican University tracked goal achievement in five groups of goal setters over a four-week period. The results indicate that taking the following simple steps may increase your likelihood of success.
- Write your resolutions down. Whether your resolutions this year involve getting more organized or preventing a hostile take-over of your business, the simple act of writing them down can increase how much you accomplish by almost 20%. Goal setters in the DU study who put their personal business-related goals in writing achieved 61% of their goals, compared to those who only thought out their goals, who achieved 43%.
- Tell a friend. Goal setters in the study who sent written goals and action commitments to a supportive friend achieved 64% of their stated objectives. (Interestingly, a group who formulated and wrote down action commitments but did not share any of their intentions with a friend achieved only 51% of their goals. Telling the friend is the important part here, not just writing down the action commitments.)
- Keep that friend in the loop. Let your friend know how you’re doing with weekly progress reports. A weekly emailed check-in increased study participants’ goal achievement by another 12%, allowing them to accomplish an impressive 76% of their goals over the four-week time period.
Even more significant than the DU study’s observed 33% increase in achievement is the anecdotal evidence of combined lifetimes of successful entrepreneurs, which also teaches us that written goals, public commitment, and accountability are the tools to accomplish what we resolve. Participants in the Acton curriculums at both MyEJ and the Acton MBA program choose a Running Partner early in their entrepreneurial journeys, to make goal-setting more effective. So let the first resolution on your list this year be to choose a partner for accountability, with whom you’ll share your written goals and your (significantly increased) progress in making them realities.
Photo courtesy of Ludie Cochrane
Tags: Advice, Science & Research, Toolkit
Posted in Blog