September 6, 2026

Does goal setting actually work?

The age-old question… Does setting goals make them more likely to be achieved?

Research tells us that you are 42% more likely to achieve your goals if you set them. (Matthews, 2007) So how do you set goals and why does it work?

Physically writing down your goals forces your brain to process deeper than just thinking of it. In short, simply writing down a goal moves it from your short term memory to your long term memory. If you're less likely to forget about the goal, you're instantly more likely to achieve it (or at least start moving in the right direction). This is called 'Encoding' and has been proved countless times to work. (Warfield, 2024)

By writing it down, you also process the thought twice. First, when you think of the goal and second, when you physically write it down. (Murphy, 2021)

At the base of your brain, there's a bundle of nerves that acts as a filter, this is called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). When you write down a goal, this tells your RAS to point out any opportunities or resources that have been around you but never made obvious because you didn't know what to look for. (Hounslow, 2022)

It's like when you go to buy a car and for the weeks in the lead up to buying it you see it EVERYWHERE. Your brain has turned the filter on to see this car and it now seems like you see it all the time. It's the same with writing down your goals, you are literally wiring your brain to see opportunities related to that goal. Pretty cool, right?

Paper also acts as an external hard-drive for your brain. When you write something down on paper, that frees up space or 'memory' in your brain for other thoughts and ideas, just like a computer. (Murphy, 2021) Whether you use this extra space for goal related things or other life related things is completely up to you, but at least you've got the space now!

So if there's a goal you have or something you want to achieve, grab a piece of paper and a pen and write it down. Then watch how many more opportunities to fulfill your goal appear in day to day life.

Next week, we'll go a step further and talk about how you can break down your goal and discover meaningful, daily actionable tasks that will actively move you in the direction of your goal.

I'll see you then.
— Chris