Of course, some people say, “yah, sure, whatever” when they hear me make a statement like that.

Let me assure you, however, that you’re going to get a lot of benefits as soon as you start clarifying, setting, and writing out your goals. In particular,

► 1. The benefits of goal setting

First, goals give you confidence.

In other words, nothing breeds success like success. So write down three goals that you would like to achieve … and could achieve within a reasonable amount of time. Keep a record of your achievements and how you feel after you complete each goal. You’ll notice your confidence building as well as your success.

That’s how I started my business. I started selling greeting cards door to door at age 7. I had a realistic goal to sell a few boxes of cards to the people within a square mile of my house. One success led to another and one goal turned into another. By age 14, I owned a small international import business. And I’ve never had any difficulty since that time being successful in business — no matter what the economy was like.

Second, goals release your energy.

When you have an exciting goal, all sorts of powers are released within you. Inertia and procrastination are thrown out the window.

Perhaps you can relate. You may have a tough time getting out of bed in the morning. You push the snooze button or your alarm clock two or three times, and you slowly, reluctantly get yourself ready and off to work. After all, you figure, yesterday wasn’t too exciting at work and today doesn’t promise to be any better.

But let’s say, by contrast, you get an early morning phone call. You’re told by a reputable source that you’ve just won a trip to Hawaii and a half million dollars — provided you can be on the plane in three hours.

I suspect that new exciting goal would motivate you to achieve more that morning than you’ve achieved in the last thirty mornings put together. You would find places to send the kids and take the dog and you would find people to fill in for you at work. You would be flying high instead of griping about your busy schedule or the drudgery of “another day another dollar.”

Do you have goals that excite you? Do you have goals that are releasing your pent-up, untapped enthusiasm? If not, you’re missing out.

Third, goals help you overcome obstacles.

If you don’t have any goals, you’re bound to see a problem as a reason to quit. For example, if you don’t have the goal of building a great relationship with someone, you may think “it wasn’t meant to be” when a conflict arises. And you bail out.

The same is true in business. If you don’t have the goal of exceeding your customers’ expectations, you may take your customers for granted. You may not take their complaints and suggestions seriously enough — until it’s too late.

Goal setters approach life quite differently. When they encounter an obstacle, when they come to a turn in the road, they don’t see it as the end of the road. Their goals allow them to see beyond the obstacle, and their goals keep them from getting demotivated.

Of course, you may be saying, “Slow down. How can I expect to get the benefits of goal setting if I don’t even know how to set my goals?” Good question