Don’t procrastinate about your goals for 2013!

The strategies for achieving goals were purported to have been defined in the “1953 Yale Study of Goals.”  But, as it turns out this study is little more than an often-quoted urban legend that, it appears, was never actually conducted.

However, what’s even stranger is a recent study by professor Dr. Gail Matthews of the Dominican University of California, backs up these ‘mythical’ strategies for achieving goals! The legend is based in fact!! (Read the full report)

So based on real scientific study if you want to fulfil your New Year Resolutions and achieve your goals for 2013 the verdict is in – write down your goals, ensure they are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time-framed) and tell your friends or colleagues.

The research shows that that people who write down specific goals for their future are far more likely to be successful than those who have either unwritten goals or no specific goals at all; and that people who wrote down their goals supported by ‘action commitments’, shared this information with a friend, and sent weekly updates to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely formulated goals.

Unfortunately, the research did not identify a way to prevent us procrastinating about getting started and actually writing some formulated goals down …… but there are some useful ideas in our White Paper on ‘Personal Time Management’ that can help.