Once you have listed the obstacles to achievement of your goals and have planned solutions for overcoming them, you reach another point where the goal-setting process sometimes breaks down. It is not enough to plan strategies for overcoming obstacles. You must also plan specific actions to take at designated times. The general strategies you list must be translated into daily activities – actions you can take now and can follow with additional actions tomorrow.
When you list action steps to be taken and a deadline or a target date for each one, you are making a commitment to yourself – a commitment to success.
A deadline or target date is an essential activating mechanism in the goal-setting process. You act on the deadline and the deadline acts on you to enhance your chances of reaching your goal. It works like this:
First: A deadline alerts your body chemistry to react to the time limit you have set. You think, act, and react with urgency. You adjust to the requirements of the task at hand. It is similar to the way your muscles adjust for different activities. The preparation your body makes when you lean over to pick up the morning paper is different from the preparation it makes when you lift a 100-pound barbell. Your mind “prepares” your muscles for what is required. So, it is when you work toward a goal. If you have set a deadline, your body responds to the urgency and automatically puts forth greater effort.
Second: A deadline serves as a challenge to which you respond mentally. In competitive sports that involve a time limit, tension mounts as the last minutes or seconds tick by on the clock. Fans expect to see the most exciting plays just before the closing whistle. So, it is in your quest for goals achievement. As the target date approaches, your excitement mounts and you call forth all of your reserve energy and resourcefulness to chalk up the victory.
Third: Deadlines help you maintain a positive mental attitude. They focus your attention and concentration on the goal. As a result, distractions are eliminated and you think more clearly and creatively. Because you are busy, you have no time for fear and worry. Your mental and physical well-being are stimulated by the creative activity expended to meet your deadlines.
Deadlines must be handled with mature understanding. A deadline is a servant, not a master. Sometimes you will not reach your goal within the deadline you have set. This is especially true when your goal leads you into challenging new fields where you have little experience. It is not always possible to know how long it will take to complete the work. Sometimes outside circumstances unrelated to the goal may affect the time and energy you expected to devote to it. The mark of the self-motivated person is the ability to distinguish a setback from a defeat. Because you establish your own deadlines, you are privileged to change them. Adjust, reset your sights in view of altered circumstances, and change the deadline without abandoning the goal. Occasionally, you will reach a goal ahead of your deadline. Rejoice in your fast progress and use the extra time available for concentrating on a new goal.
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Published by On Track Leadership, Inc. with permission.