Short video by George Kao exploring how one’s personal relationship to deadlines and due dates (especially self-imposed ones) affects the timeline for achieving goals, maintaining financial stability, and producing work. Kao contrasts a 'go with the flow' lifestyle—accepting unpredictable timing—with a more disciplined approach of setting and honoring short-term deadlines to intentionally manifest outcomes on preferred timelines.
What is your relationship to deadlines and due dates, particularly the ones that you set for yourself? If you don't want anything to do with deadlines and due dates, then similarly you shouldn't expect your goals and your vision and your dreams to be manifested in a timeline that you desire and decide. And you also shouldn't expect that you'll pay your bills on time, because those two things are related. Which two? Your relationship to your deadlines and your due dates, especially self imposed ones or self decided ones. That's one piece of it. And the other piece of the puzzle is the timeline for the manifestation of your goals and your projects and your dreams and whether or not you pay the bills on time. If you want to be able to pay the bills on time. If you want to be able to manifest your goals and your dreams in a timeline that you would like in one year, in three months, in one month, instead of unknown quantity of time, such as five or 10, maybe 15 years, maybe 20, maybe never. If you want to manifest things in a time that you decide, then you need to repair your relationship to deadlines and due dates that are in the shorter term. Meaning I'm going to write a blog post once a week or once a day or whatever it is you decide. Because if you just want to, by contrast, if you just want to go with the flow, then you should expect that things happen in your life in a very flexible way as well. Whether bills get paid, go with the flow. Whether your goals are ever achieved, go with the flow. So I see so many people having this contradiction of saying, oh, I dream of having a certain level of success or achieving a certain thing, having a certain type of business this year or the next six months or in the next 18 months. And then their own relationship with the shorter deadlines and timelines are so flexible and so loose, loosey goosey. It doesn't work like that. If you want to live in society and have some level of material comfort that is stable and predictable, then you need to be more stable and predictable and reliable and consistent. They are related. Your stability and consistency and reliability. Personally, the reliability and consistency of what life gives you, they are related. So you either have to go with the flow both ways. You don't care about deadlines, whatever. You know, I don't feel like doing a video today. I don't feel like writing today. I don't feel like contacting potential clients today. Then don't. Also expect that life will be very flexible with what it gives you. And you need to be open and accepting of that, and that's fine. That's a way of living, right? Or if you want things happening at a time that you want them, then you need to also be reliable with shorter due dates and timelines and set them for yourself. Repair your relationship to your calendar if you want things to happen in a time that you would like. So I hope this is helpful. I am always open to your questions and your comments, and I just want to encourage you to understand the relationship between these things and make a decision how you want to behave, how you want to live, and to accept that whatever life gives you is whatever you give to life.
