I just came across some statistics that painted an undeniable and poignant picture for me — clearly showing the link between goals and income. I simply had to share it with all of you.
To start, I want to take a minute to talk with you about those “evil” 1%ers — you know, those that earn in the top 1% of earners in our country. Let me be VERY clear that I don’t believe any more “evil” exists in the top 1% of earners than in the bottom 1% of non-earners. In fact, I believe that much of our talk about high income earners stems from our tendency to look at what they HAVE and not what they DO.
VERY similar to our willingness to say we “WANT” a body like Jennifer Aniston… but being entirely unwilling to eat and workout like Jennifer Aniston.
We love the result, but not the work and discipline required to get there. =) But that’s a story for another day.
Here’s what I’ve known for some time, and I’m sure it will NOT be news to you: Income in our country is roughly divided in the following percentages: There’s the bottom 80% of earners and non-earners; then there are those 15% of earners considered affluent, mass affluent and ultra affluent; then there are the top 5% of earners — including that “evil 1%” — who are outrageous earners.
(Now, I’m no economist… just passing along these “accepted” income break downs among our American peers.)
But, this weekend I picked up a book to read with my family and came across the following quote:
According to Dave Kohl, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech, people who regularly write down their goals earn 9 times as much over their lifetimes as the people who don’t, and yet 80% of Americans say they don’t have any goals. Sixteen percent do have goals, but they don’t write them down. Less than four percent write down their goals, and fewer than 1 percent actually review them on an ongoing basis.
Do you see the pattern that jumped out at me in terms of income and goals??? The breakdown between people who don’t have goals, who do have goals, who write them down and who write them down and review them regularly (80%/16%/4%/1%) ALMOST mirrors the natural distribution of wealth in our country. (80%/15%/4%/1%)
Say what you will about these top five percent of earners, but if your goal (like mine) is to join them, a great place to start is to write down your goals. Mine are written, visible and will now be reviewed daily.
Say you’ll join me.
