“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.”
Duke Ellington
It is amazing how a simple perception shift can change your entire perspective about something. Do you view life’s challenges as problems you HAVE to deal with? Perhaps a better way to frame it is just as this quote is written. You GET the opportunity to do your best and improve your capabilities. This is a subtle yet powerful difference and can change your entire outlook on whatever lies before you.
“Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.”
Duke Ellington
One of the reasons that I started this blog was to enhance my writing skills and to create progress towards my goal of writing a book. What do I want that book to be about? I have no idea yet, but I know that I want to write one. Reading books has been one of the greatest joys and key differentiators in my life and I have a desire to create something that will serve others and perhaps bring joy or value to them. But, without a deadline, it will never happen.
Why not? All the same excuses and reasons that everyone has for not doing things they say they want to do. “I’m too busy, life gets in the way, I don’t have time, it isn’t a priority, etc.” (This is fodder for a separate post but what is the difference between a reason and an excuse? An action plan with a deadline…)
By starting this blog I now have a daily deadline to write something. Progress towards my goal will only happen when I impose a deadline and hold myself accountable for meeting it.
By the way, the framework of problem solving that I often use is the classic, “Why, How, What, Who, When.”
Without when, nothing else matters. It’s all just noise and wishful thinking.
Deadlines are worthless without accountability. Change is a choice. Growth is a choice. Starting a new habit is a choice. Stopping a bad habit or behavior is a choice. The most critical component to these choices? Establishing the when, and holding yourself accountable to meeting that deadline.
“Without a deadline, baby, I wouldn’t do nothing.” This might be one of the most brutally self-aware statements I’ve ever read. Just remember, without a deadline, nothing else matters…
What’s your deadline to do something different and achieve one of your goals?