Write it Down, Make it Happen!
Knowing what you want and getting it!
by Henriette Anne Klauser
One of the first books that I read this past year was "Write it Down, Make it Happen" by Henriette Anne Klauser( http://www.henrietteklauser.com ). As I was browsing through the bookstore the title jumped out at me. In the early 80's I remember hearing about a study that had been conducted at the Harvard Business School. The study showed that 3% of the graduating class had written goals. The same graduating class was contacted 20 years later and the 3% that had written goals when they graduated had 80% of the wealth. That made a big impression on me and I started writing goals with amazing results. Then magically I got out of the habit of doing it personally and did it for the business that I managed. Reading this book brought the practice back to the forefront for me with amazing results. I've decided to keep doing it.
Henriette told me to compose a list of goals. Her directions were to go to an expresso bar and buy a latte or put on a pot of peppermint tea my own house. Set the stereo for the kind of music I like the best and start to write.
Write fast. Do not linger over the page. If you find yourself dismissing a goal as grandiose or far-fetched, write it anyway and put a star next to it. That's a live one.
Do not be afraid of wanting too much. Write down even those ambitions which have not practical means of accomplishment.
Keep on writing. Write from your heart and make the list as long as you like.
Lou Holtz the famous football coach, did this in 1966. He was twenty-eight years old when he sat down at his dining room table and wrote out one hundred and seven impossible goals. He had just lost his job, he had no money in the bank, and his wife, Beth, was eight months pregnant with their third child. He was so discouraged that Beth gave him a copy of The Magic of Thinking Big by David J. Schwartz to help lift his spirits. Up until then, Holtz says, he was totally lacking in motivation.
"There are so many people, and I was one of them, who don't do anything special with their lives. The book said you should write down all the goals you wanted to achieve before you died."
The goals he wrote in answer to that challenge were both personal and professional. Most seemed impossible to a twenty-eight-year-old out-of-work man. His list included having dinner at the White House, appearing on the Tonight Show, meeting the Pope, becoming Head Coach at Notre Dame, winning a national championship, being coach of the year, landing on an aircraft carrier, making a hole in one, and jumping out of an airplane.
If you check out Coach Lou Holtz's website, along with this list you will get pictures of Holtz with the Pope, with President Ronald Reagan at the White House, yukking it up with Johnny Carson. In addition a description of what it was like to jump out of an airplane and get not one but two holes in one.
Of the one hundred and seven goals on his list from 1966, Lou Holtz had achieved eighty-one when Henriette wrote the book.
Being someone who follows direction pretty well, I sat down in a coffee shop and in 10 to 15 minutes had 50 goals written down. My wife and I are amazed when the things that I wrote down happen and not always due to the method that we envisioned. It has been truly remarkable.
Give yourself permission to dream, to be totally unrealistic. Go to a space shuttle launch, climb a mountain, cure an untreatable disease, get a hole in one, travel to the destination of your dreams, be a better parent, face a fear, appear on TV, perform in front of an audience, play Augusta National, meet a person you admire, help your kids find their passion.
Write it Down, Make it Happen!
