How Goals Actually Get Done

Ever felt that “manifesting” a goal just sounds like something you’d find in a crystal shop next to a dreamcatcher and some incense sticks? Same here. But today’s top tip might just get you closer to that Ferrari—without having to think really, really hard about it.

We're talking goals. Not the wishy-washy kind, but the Noel Gallagher kind. You’ll see how writing your goals down (and maybe putting them in a song or two) can turn your pipe dreams into actual reality. Let’s get into it.

The Truth About Writing Goals Down

I was chatting with a client once about the various goals he’d created and the fact that over time they had all been achieved.
We both dismissed the idea that just because you write a goal down it can then be ‘manifested’. He wasn’t down with the idea that the universe will somehow deliver it to you. Giftwrapped. On a plate.

Just think of your goal and it WILL come to pass. If it doesn’t then you’re clearly not thinking hard enough. Where is my Ferrari by the way?

That’s fine if you believe that. He didn’t and personally I don’t either. It seems a little too ‘woo’ for me.

But I do believe in the power of setting goals in order to make them happen. There is a sort of a magic but I think rather than ‘manifesting’ it’s more that when you write your goals down they become clearer.

And then if you keep them front and centre you’re continually aware of them.

And if you keep them in sight and align your actions to achieve them and keep ‘turning up’ then those goals will be achieved. Maybe that’s what manifesting is anyway.

Noel Gallagher on Goals and Stories

I once bagged a pair of tickets to see Noel Gallagher at the Rose Theatre in Kingston. I was very pleased as it’s an intimate venue and not surprisingly the tickets sold out in a couple of seconds.

It was actually billed as Noel Gallagher In Conversation, so in theory he was just chatting but I was openly hoping he’d bring his Gibson along. I was hoping for the chat and the tunes but it was just the chat, however, that was still okay by me. Noel’s a hilarious speaker and has an inexhaustible treasure trove of anecdotes.

He tells a tale about Liam when Oasis had just hit the big time.

“Our kid’s round at my house one night. He opens the fridge and there’s a bottle of champagne in it, with a fork in it.

And Liam says ‘Why’ve you got a fork in a bottle of champagne for?'

And I said, ‘Well, it keeps it fresh.’

‘Does it?’

‘Yeah, keeps it fresh.’

And he went ‘Nah, I’m not having it.’

I said ‘That champagne is two days old. It’s still fizzy.’

He’s like ‘No way, that’s amazing.’

About a week later I went round to his house. I opened the fridge and there’s a fork in a pint of milk.”

I’d pay good money to listen to Noel tell stories all night, although I have to say I balked at stumping up £326 for a ticket to see his old band. He and his kid brother are as I speak reunited and knocking it out of the park with their triumphant reunion gigs.

Oasis and the Power of Clear Goals

There has been unprecedented demand. Understandable really. Oasis, for a couple of albums at least, were THE band of the 90s. They combined the fury of The Sex Pistols with the swagger of The Stone Roses, all underpinned by The Beatles’ melodic charm.

It seemed like they just arrived out of the ether, fully formed. I saw them play in 1994 at the tiny Leeds Irish Centre—an odd venue really, more used to bingo and hoolies than bands. My ticket was £6.

Next time I saw Oasis, they were headlining the main stage at Glastonbury 95. Not even a year had passed. When you talk about a rapid rise like this you’re legally obliged to use the word ‘meteoric’.

The thing is, they had a goal. And to achieve that goal, they worked really hard. They were rehearsing five nights a week for months and months and becoming a great live band. But they did that in private.

I've never seen a manifesto as such for Oasis, but I think it was all there in every lyric of the early tracks, all those early yearning songs written by Noel.

He was dreaming about what he wanted to have and what he wanted to be. He poured all of those aspirations into his music. Many of those early Oasis classics were written in the downtime when he was on a building site with a broken foot or travelling home on a late night train.

Manifesting vs Reality

All those early songs are about making it out of Manchester. They're about leaving the city, they're about travelling the world, becoming a rock and roll star. About becoming a millionaire. About driving a Jaguar.

Those were his goals.

Noel wrote his goals down. That’s the standard minimum action for setting goals. But more than that, he wrote whole tunes around the words and then played them again and again and again. He visited his goals endlessly.

The whole first album, Definitely Maybe, was a defiant statement of intent about escaping a mundane life. It was about getting loads of money, buying cars, living the rock and roll lifestyle. (And lasagne.) They weren't ashamed to say that's what they wanted.

Every time they got on stage, every time they rehearsed, every time they played to a crowd, large or small, they were reminding each other of what their goals were. The goals were front and centre and they kept turning up.

Keeping Goals Front and Centre in Life and Work

In order for any team or any individual in a team to reach a goal, they have to know what it is they're trying to achieve.

If you're a school business manager, what is it that you're trying to achieve for that organisation?

If you’re the owner of a business planning for succession, what will that look like?

If you're a bookkeeper, what is the goal that you're trying to achieve for you and your clients?

So you've got to know your goal. And you've got to keep the goal in front of you, keep it in sight, make sure you're still excited by the goal, make sure you're keeping the others excited about the goal.

Take some time to reflect on your goals. Which one is your priority? Is it front and centre? Are you taking action on it? Are you turning up?

The Real Magic of Achieving Goals

Turns out, the real magic isn’t manifesting—it’s just showing up, again and again, with your goal in full view and a fork in your milk.

If you found this helpful, give it a like and hit subscribe. And let me know in the comments – how do you keep your goals as fresh as Noel’s champagne?