There is a widely circulated story about how, in 1953, a survey of Yale graduates was conducted, asking them the following questions:
- “Do you have your own, clearly expressed and formulated goals that you want to achieve in life?”
- “Do you have a detailed plan for how you want to achieve them after graduation?”
The results of this questionnaire are said to have been astonishing. Only 3% of graduates had life goals clearly expressed and formulated along with an action plan, which they were going to realize after graduation.
True, 13% of the respondents strove for certain goals, but they never clearly formulated them. The remaining 84% had no other goals than finishing their studies and enjoying themselves during the upcoming holidays.
It is said that twenty years later, that is, in 1973, the participants of the questionnaire were asked about their property status today. After analyzing the results of both questionnaires, it turned out that all those 3% of the respondents, i.e. those who twenty years ago, before graduating from university, had clearly formulated and written life goals and a clear plan of action, owned more wealth than the remaining 97% combined. Some of them graduated with poor grades, some with good grades. They worked in different fields. Some moved, some stayed in the same place.
The only common feature of those graduates who achieved objective material success was that they set specific goals for themselves. Formulated and recorded.
What goals have you written down?
The only negative of this story is that, most likely, none of this happened in reality. As can be read on the Yale University page on the Yale Business Research FAQ,
Question: Where can I find the Yale study from 1953 about goal-setting?
Answer: It has been determined that no “goals study” of the Class of 1953 actually occurred. In recent years, we have received a number of requests for information on a reported study based on a survey administered to the Class of 1953 in their senior year and a follow-up study conducted ten years later. This study has been described as how one’s goals at graduation related to success and annual incomes achieved during the period.
The secretary of the Class of 1953, who had served in that capacity for many years, did not know of [the study], nor did any of the fellow class members he questioned. In addition, a number of Yale administrators were consulted and the records of various offices were examined in an effort to document the reported study. There was no relevant record, nor did anyone recall the purported study of the Class of 1953, or any other class.
And yet, this story seems to be true. It is true in that if all this happened in reality, everything would most likely be exactly the way it is told in this story: people who have goals move towards them much more efficiently. And those who live without a purpose move through life only randomly.