Write it down - make it so

There is a famous study from Yale University which is often cited by motivational speakers. The story goes that, of the Yale class of 1953, 3% were found to have written down goals for the future. Twenty years later, those 3% were found to have accumulated more wealth than the other 97% of the class combined. Compelling evidence that writing down your goals works.

Except that there's no evidence at all - the whole thing is an urban myth and the study never actually happened. Don't you just hate it when the facts get in the way of a good story? 

The funny thing is though, that over the years of coaching clients, I have found that writing down what you want to happen does seem to make a huge difference to what happens in your life. Maybe it's the fact that you can get more clarity on an issue when you take it out of your head and look at it on paper. Maybe it's that writing things down is enough of a tiny action to inspire you into taking bigger action which leads to change. Maybe it's the magic goal-setting pixies at work. I don't know.

All I know is that it works, so if there's something you want to achieve in your life, start by writing it down and see what you can make happen.