The Power of Designing Your Destiny

i copyed from somewhere and i think u guys should read it

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Let me illustrate to you a very well known example of the power ofgoals. In 1952, there was a research study done on the impact ofgoal setting on the graduating batch of students at YaleUniversity. When asked how many of them had clearly specified and written downgoals, only three percent responded. The remaining ninety-sevenpercent, despite being highly intelligent and hardworking, had noroad map where they would be five to ten years after graduation. Twenty years later in 1972, a follow up study was done on the classof 1952. What they discovered was shocking; the combined income ofthe three percent who had clear goals was greater than the entireincome of the ninety seven percent combined! Was it just acoincidence or does having clear goals really have an impact on aperson's personal and financial success? One classic example is investor Warren Buffet. Does his ability tocome about by chance? Absolutely not. From a very early age youngBuffett was obsessed with making money and had a very clear dreamof becoming the world's greatest investor. Born during the depression when his father was close to bankruptcy,Warren learnt about the value of money and the importance of beingfinancially secure at an early age. Even before his teens, Warren knew that he wanted to be rich. Asearly as elementary school and later on in high school, he wouldtell his classmates that he wanted to become a millionaire beforethe age of 35 (when he turned 35, his net worth exceeded $6million). It was because of his goal that he constantly thought ofways to make money, while most other kids his age would be spendingtheir parents' money. He even memorized a book called ' A Thousand Ways to Make $1,000'.At the age of six, he started buying coke bottles at 25-cents persix-pack and selling them at 5-cents a bottle, giving him a 16%gross profit, as he would tell himself. At the age of 13, he got ajob delivering newspapers and through innovative marketing anddistribution strategies, he served five hundred customers a day. At the age of 11, he took all his savings and started investing inthe stock market. His first investment was three shares in acompany called 'City Service'. While most kids his age were readingcomic books, Warren spent his time reading company annual reports. By the age of 14, he started a pinball business and was earning$175 a week, as much as the average 25-year old was earning in1944. Would he have taken all those actions if he never set a goalto be rich in the first place? Of course not. It was clearlybecause of his focus of energy and actions that allowed him tobecome the best in what he does. What if you have no clue as to what business or career path totake? Well, it doesn't matter! Sometimes, just setting a specificfinancial goal will get your mind thinking and guiding you towardsthe right path. Before George Lucas left his hometown for college, he alreadypredicted that he would be a millionaire by the time he was thirty.However at that time, his passion and dream was to make it as aracecar driver. It was after he suffered a terrible crash that hebegan to change his mind about that career. It was only after that accident that he decided that he wanted tobecome a filmmaker. As a result of his focus on pushing himself tobe the best in anything he did, he became a millionaire by the ageof 28. However, as I mentioned in chapter three, the primarydriving motivation of millionaires is not the money they will make,but the passion they have in what they do. The financial goal they set is only a means of measuring theirsuccess. However, what drove Lucas to give his all in the face ofinsurmountable odds to finish Star Wars was not the money he wouldmake, but his dream of seeing his fantasy come to life on the bigscreen. Tiger Woods never really set a goal to become a millionaire.However at the age of eight, he gave an interview on TV, afterwinning an amateur golf tournament. During that interview, hedeclared that his goal was to become the world's number one golferand that he would break all of Jack Nicklaus' records. It was that obsession that got him to focus a hundred percent ofhis time, energy and thoughts into his game. Fourteen years later,Woods became the world's number one at the age of 22...again not bychance, but by design. If you were to study the life stories of the most successful peoplein history, you will discover that their achievements didn't happenby chance. At a certain point of time in their lives, they dared todream about something they wanted to create. They then allowed thisdream to guide their actions until they made it a reality.
And you can do the same as well!
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