“Write. Recite. Repeat”
Prosperity Principle #1 talks about the importance of having a clear direction or purpose you wish to pursue.
Prosperity Principle #2 breaks down how important it is to first set your mind and your thoughts to what’s important to you. Before anything can come into being, it first must be a clear thought in your mind.
Once you are clear in your mind about what you want, who you identify as – who you want to be — it’s critical you clarify and document exactly what you desire and do this in a way that is proven to bring success.
I am sharing the one I and countless other successful people have used to build wealth and prosper. It is based on Napoleon Hill’s six-step approach outlined in “Chapter 2. Desire, The Starting Point of All Achievement,” of his book, Think and Grow Rich. It’s among the top inspirational and motivational classics for people interested in furthering their lives and reaching their goals by learning from some of the most successful people in history. There are some schools of thought that having goals and writing them down is not useful; it won’t amount to anything. I disagree to some degree.
It’s one thing to have goals in mind (what you think about) and even to write them down, but it’s what you DO with what you’ve written down that makes the difference.
If you simply write something down and never look at it again, it doesn’t serve your purpose. So, in that case yes, writing down goals is useless.
However, if you look at your goals, read them aloud every day, have them in front of you feeding your subconscious mind with intent and focus, you will begin to take action toward achieving your goals.
Let me illustrate. I wasn’t aware until around 2000 the importance of having clearly defined goals – and how to use them.
Yes, like many of you, I had goals in my life. I graduated high school, went to college, got good jobs, traveled to places I always wanted to go, and so on. Each of those were goals I wanted to achieve. And did.
But it wasn’t until I learned the success formula in Think and Grow Rich that things began to happen in a big way in my career and in life. Allow me to share my Goal Card, Circa 2001.
I wrote these goals down and read them aloud every morning when I got up and every night before I went to sleep.
I carried this card with me wherever I went. I looked at it more than once a day for years.
I posted a fake $1M Bill on the bulletin board in my office at home to remind me that I identify as a millionaire. By having this and reciting it aloud daily, in faith, with visual triggers of what I wanted around me, I fed my subconscious mind with my desires and spoke these goals into existence. All of them. Literally. And today have assets far exceeding $1M.
Some of these goals are still important to me, like making a difference in people’s lives, contributing more to my church and community, sharing Jesus’ message, being prosperous and wealthy.
It’s more than 20 years later, and I now have a new set of goals which I’m aspiring to achieve and several of these goals still carry forward.
It’s important to point something out in how I phrased what’s in my goal card. Notice the language. “I AM. I HAVE.” The words don’t say, “I WANT” what I listed. They are written as if I already am in possession of them. I can’t stress enough how important that nuance is.
Simone Biles told herself every day that she IS an Olympic Goad Medal gymnast, not she would love to be one. HUGE difference.
Let’s get back to you.
In Prosperity Principles #1 and #2, we focused on identifying what you desire for yourself. We did this to get clarity around what you want and by extension what you think about.
The next step is to develop the programming you will need to begin making progress toward your goals with intent. That begins with writing them down.
The physical act of writing down your goals and desires connects your thoughts (what you want) with an action (writing), which together begins to etch these into your subconscious mind.
Nothing can manifest without first a thought. And no thought can materialize without action. What the mind acknowledges in your thoughts will begin to drive what you physically do, the actions you take.
In the epic moving, “The Ten Commandments,” you’ll hear the phrase, “so let it be written, so let it be done,” more than once. Used in the right way, your written down goals become the script by which you live your life until you achieve what you desire.
So, is there a right way to do that? There are several ways, but I’m going to unveil a successful approach I’ve used that countless other successful, wealthy people have used.
Napoleon Hill recommends a six-steps approach to achieve what you desire. While the book emphasizes the desire for money, or wealth as the primary goal, in my experience, it’s a proven, successful approach to turn whatever you desire into reality. Following is my simplified and modernized version of Hill’s six-step approach.
- Determine in your mind exactly what you desire.
- Identify specifically what you will give in return to attain it.
- Select a specific date for when you plan to attain it.
- Develop an implementation plan; start immediately, regardless of your readiness to put the plan into action.
- Write out a clear, concise statement of what you plan to attain, by when (the exact date you set), what you will give in return, and a clear plan for attaining it.
- Read your statement aloud twice a day — every morning when you wake up and every evening before you go to sleep. As you do this, visualize, feel, and believe that you are already in possession of what you desire”
This last point is key. Hill stresses that if you are not able to imagine and see what you desire for yourself in your mind, you will never see it in reality.
I’ll add that if you do not see the YOU, you want to be, AS IF YOU ARLEADY ARE THAT PERSON, you will never see her looking back at you in the mirror.
My intent in sharing this is to introduce you to a key element of the success formula described in Think and Grow Rich. What I found so compelling about doing this exercise for myself is that it worked for me. And can work for you. If you look at your goals, read them aloud every day, and have them in front of you to feed your subconscious mind with intent and focus, you can’t help but take action toward achieving your goals.
If you do not have a copy of Think and Grow Rich, I strongly suggest getting one today. I recommend getting the original classic edition, originally published in 1937. While somewhat dated in terms of the examples used and language in some cases, I find it best to learn from and study the original edition.
Let’s recap.
- Know your purpose, what you desire. Be clear about what you want and by when.
- Plant into your mind – into your subconscious – what you desire so you can begin to program your life to get anything you want. Feeding your subconscious mind every day with the thought of what you desire, through repetition and visualization as if you already have what you want, will drive your plan of action.
- Create your plan to obtain what you want; exactly what you will do, by when, how, what you will give of yourself and the discipline you will commit to put effort toward it in faith, with emotion, consistently, persistently.
This work is foundational. These building blocks are essential to set yourself on a path to begin to change your life to the one you always wanted.
Additional readings you may want to explore are listed below.
7 Examples of How Successful People Set Goals and Achieve Them (stunningmotivation.com)
To your prosperity!
For more information, join my Facebook community and connect with me LinkedIn (4) Mary Lou Panzano | LinkedIn.
