In his book, “What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School,” Mark McCormack made an interesting discovery about the 1979 graduating MBA class. Within the group, 3% had written goals, 13% had thought of some goals and the balance were just thrilled to be out of school.
John Douglas highlights that what’s really intriguing is what happened ten years down the road.
Here are the results and success of the group after a decade:
The group that had not-written their goals 13% of the class, but had thought about them were making TWICE in their Profession compared to the 84% of those who had no goals after leaving Harvard.
The group with written goals 3% of the class was making TEN TIMES what the other 97% were making on average.
John Douglas thinks you would agree that the students at Harvard Business School have a long history of knowing what they are doing. So if the top 3% were able to make TEN TIMES the money as everyone else by simply writing out their goals, why aren’t you doing it?
We seem to be already through the hardest part of the ‘Great recession’ and yet people and businesses are still worried that our economic situation is dire. Most of us made resolutions back at the beginning of this year, to get fitter and healthier, to be a better person, to contribute more to those in need, to be the best parent or spouse or partner, son or daughter that you could be may be starting to fade if they haven’t already. But who says making and keeping resolutions is just for the beginning of a year. Why wait till New Year?
Make sure that one of the resolutions you set and keep right now is to create a strong plan for yourself and your business; A plan with enough detail that you can actually make real progress on your goals every day.
John Douglas recommends that you write down ALL your goals you have for the next year. Then, find someone to share them with and have them check up on you weekly, (monthly at a minimum) to see if you are making progress. Have them hold you accountable for your victories and accomplishment and for not accomplishing any areas you committed to achieving.
Taking action now, it is the key to success. Do something that will take you towards your goal, make daily incremental shifts that over time will create habits which will in turn deliver results. We are all driven to achieve results.
If you do this, then it won’t be long before you are making TEN TIMES more than your competition.