Your goals stall because they lack deadlines. Set firm, near-term ones to force pressure and momentum. Missing a deadline isn't failure, it's a signal to set a tighter one. Sustained pressure builds character and makes handling stress easier over time.
The most important thing you can give yourself regarding your goals in your life is urgency. And there is no such thing as urgency without a deadline. You've got to up the pressure on yourself with deadlines for your goals. Otherwise, they're ideas. For many of you, you've had dreams forever with no deadlines, you've had. I'm going to write this book. I'm going to build this company, I'm going to do this tour, I'm going to write this song. I'm going to complete this thing. And it's an idea in your mind, in your body, and your spirit. But unless it lands on your calendar as a series of deadlines forever, you'll be inefficient. And you want to know when you get really motivated, when you get efficient, when you get momentum, when you get effectiveness. A lot of people are so discouraged because I've never had a deadline or they missed the deadline and they failed to set another one. I missed the deadline. I'm discouraged. I guess I'll sit around, wait. We need you to have those deadlines. I believe in you. Set those deadlines and make them hard. Like, if you put that deadline out too far, you will always fill the time with distraction. I'd rather you feel pressure to get it done than distraction to wait someday. You can handle the pressure. I'm here to tell you, you have greater potential in you. You can handle more pressure. You might not like it at first, but as you get more and more pressure in your life, guess what? It actually becomes easier. I'm used to an extreme high level of pressure in my life. Other people, it would break them just like it broke me at the beginning. I was like, I can't handle this. But guess what? You learn to and you get better. You learn to find your peace. You learn to find your faith. You learn to find your love. You learn to find your character as life gets harder. And then as it gets harder, you realize you just got better.
