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“By seeing all those things written down, and let-
ting myself read them one at a time, I can change my
entire attitude from being discouraged to feeling posi-
tive about myself,” he says.
Writing lists of goals and objectives is also a power-
ful self-motivator. It’s one thing to go into a meeting
mentally briefed on what you want to accomplish, but
you’ll feel even stronger having written it out. There is
something about writing something down that makes it
more real to the right side of your brain.
My friend Fred Knipe sometimes travels to Phoenix
to spend a day talking with me. We’ve been close friends
since college and share an unorthodox sense of humor.
Our meetings together are anything but structured. We
free-associate and talk about everything under the sun.
Yet, I notice that he’ll often arrive with a list.
In the days prior to our meeting, he’ll jot down sub-
jects he wants to be sure he remembers to talk to me
about while we are together. And it’s because our con-
versations are so free-form that the list is valuable for
him. He doesn’t ever have to call me back the next day
and try to discuss something over the phone that would
have been much better discussed in person.
If you’ve ever tried grocery shopping for a large event
without a shopping list, you are aware of the nightmare
it can be. Most people have learned not to shop that
way. I’ve learned by hard experience that it can mean
additional trips to the store to pick up forgotten items.
Yet why is it that people don’t apply that same prin-
ciple to their lives? Most people take more time plan-
ning a picnic than they do planning a life. Because they
know that if they don’t make a list and forget the hot
dog buns as a result, they are going to be called an idiot
by someone.