The Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote, "All men seek one goal: success or happiness.  First have a definite clear, practical ideal — a goal, an objective.  Second have the necessary means to achieve your ends - wisdom, money, materials, and methods.  Third, adjust all your means to that end.  Similarly, modern day philosopher and baseball great, Yogi Berra stated, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere else."

A study of 1953 Yale University graduates demonstrates this point.  Graduates were asked if they had written goals with a plan for achieving goals.  Only 3% answered affirmatively.  Twenty years later, researchers interviewed surviving members of the class again.  They found the 3% with written goals were worth more financially than the other 97% put together.  The researchers also found this group felt a greater degree of happiness and success than the group without specific goals.