First: What's a goal? It is a desired outcome.
Second: Why are they important? Because if a person, plant, or animal cannot muster up the candlepower of mental wattage to desire enough for an outcome, there is no need to bother breathing.
Last: What do we do with them? We work toward them. And I believe the best first step is to write them down.
Why? Because if you can think clearly enough to define a goal well enough to write it down, then your subconscious can help make your goal a reality. I have proof!
When I was in school, I watched as flurries of notes were passed about the next heartthrob and the comparisons thereof. Idiotic, I though it. After all, who can define love in fourth grade? Eighth grade? High school? I watched as those around me seemed to flitter here and there, defining their newest date as a love. From fourth grade on, I vowed never to tell anyone I loved them unless it were really true. No fly-by-wind-change love for me. Did I wish to date, kiss, carry on with a less than my true love? Of course. That I called dipping a toe in the lake of life. However, true love would have to wait for a true love in my heart.
But, I did dip a toe in the lake of life. And when I did, I discovered a banquet of options that I would need to choose from. I needed a list of likes and dislikes. By the time I was nineteen, I had noticed that people put more actual thought in the features of a stereo system or a car then in the loved one they hoped to acquire. This little issue I thought the height of, shall we call it foolhardy carelessness? So, in a cabin, high in the Rocky mountains, one day I made the list. Yes, a list of what I best required in a true loved spouse. A shopping list as it were. I still have that list. My husband has all but two requirements. He doesn't like to dance, although he can manage a bit. He isn't always a snappy dresser, although he is capable of it. The list was as simple as a height requirement (for ease of kissing). And as testing as the question about dogs. He had to interact with dogs well. For, I thought, if he does well with dogs, it will tell me how he will treat his wife and his children. I don't like dogs all that much. This was merely a test. He is wonderful with dogs. He can't help but play with them and likes to give them treats. I once watched him talk a huge, not-too-happy guard dog to his hand for petting. It took about twenty minutes, but was incredible to watch. He also likes to play and give treats to those he cares for. Does it get better? I'm spoiled.
What was that list? It was a goal. Did I refer to it often while dating? No. But my subconscious didn't let me stop looking until I found the guy who fit the list slipper. I repeated the same with my two daughters. There was a lot of eye-rolling, stubborn grumbling, and I think some under-the-breath name calling, but I made them put some thought one afternoon into completing a list. One had what I thought was out-of-the-box thinking that was likely to fail. And yet, her list did not fail her. She got what she wanted. Yes, she shed tears over other men, but when she found the one that fit the list, she stuck like a burr. Same with her sister. Not too long ago, I found their lists and sent them a copy, for fun, to show them how close they came. Their choices too, were almost spot on.
Is a goal important? Is it important to write it down? Obviously our answers are YES!!!
Lesser goals than personal happily-ever-after goals are also very useful. A few years ago, then WARA president Pat had us write out goals out for the year. I then lost the list for a while. It was a few months after the year was over I found the goal list. I had managed to meet many of them. Not that they were simple things--like getting dressed most days, no, they were writerly related. My subconscious had used the goals as a map that it used to make choices that led me to achieve better that year than any other.
Conclusion?
Write yer durn goals down!
Write down lesser goals that get you going the direction you feel you need to go!
Don't forget goals in other areas of your life as well. You're a well rounded person, right?
The time you spend writing down goals is NOT a waste of time. If you have the time, spend some time thinking about and listing lesser goals that will get you closer to the big goals. The big girls call that planning. I call it essential.
