On a 2018 Forbes article, Mark Murphy mentions that in a study he had done on the Gender Pay Gap, “both men and women need to do a much better job of writing down their goals (although men did perform a bit better than women on this issue). Study participants were asked to rate the question “My goal is so vividly described in written form (including pictures, photos, drawings, etc.) that I could literally show it to other people and they would know exactly what I’m trying to achieve.” Sadly, fewer than 20% of people said that their goals were ‘Always’ written down this vividly.”

If you have a memory anything like mine, you know that the more information you consume, the more you forget… unless it’s written down. I’m like a bucket with holes at the bottom if I don’t write things down.

If you are like me and haven’t been writing all your goals and dreams and aspirations down IN DETAIL, here’s why you need to get started :

1. Ideas generally don’t stay long. They are like butterflies pouncing gently on your mind, and when they’re brilliant… they leave as fast as they enter your mind. Write them down!
2. When you write your goals down, you introduce clarity and focus. This then opens the door to planning and action.
3. Writing helps you think big and refine.
4. Ever heard of the saying: “I have so many mental tabs open”? Writing the tabs down helps close them in order to deal with them in more detail at an appropriate time. There is no point having all these tabs open and occupying space with no purpose… This is a recipe for stress and anxiety.
5. Writing things down give you a record of the past. I have diaries that date back to 2015 that I go back to to draw inspiration, these would perhaps be goals or ideas I had when I didn’t have the means to make them happen. Needless to say, as I get/acquire the means, I make them happen. And I wouldn’t be able to had I not recorded/written them down.
6. Lastly, when your mind is clearer and everything has been downloaded onto a diary or even a digital diary, you are able to process better and think with purpose.

In closing, I encourage you to write. Stop procrastinating it, get a diary and write things down so you can observe and spot where the gaps are and get yourself back on track. We all have a fire.

Writing also ensures you get things down, planned for and executed and aren’t just talking and under delivering – but can see what you have on your plate and schedule it adequately.

That meeting you’re about to step into; frame the conversation, write it down. Write the purpose and what you want to walk out with.

Or even your journal, ensure you articulate yourself as best as you can and download everything so that the you in 5 years time can pick up and run with any ideas you may feel are bigger than your means… for now.