Have you ever set a deadline for a goal only to watch it float on by and the goal is not met? Do you wonder what the heck happened? Or do you hang your head and slink back into bed (and enjoy the extra sleep)?
Usually when a deadline goes by without the expected results it is one of two things.
The Law of Gender is at work, or you are NOT at work. What do I mean by this? Let’s look at the Law of Gender first.
The Law of Gender basically states that everything has an incubation period. Think of a seed. For example sake let’s think about a seed of corn. We know that when you plant a seed of corn and care for it appropriately, you will start to see the corn break ground in about 2 weeks. Well ideas are seeds as well. The only thing is that we are not sure of the gestation period.
Idea gestation is an elusive thing. And when we set deadlines on an idea (or goal) coming to fruition we need to keep in mind that it is a best guess on our part. It is ok if the date passes. Reset your deadline and stay in motion. Keep working on that goal! You will reach it!
The second, and frankly more prevalent, culprit is that you stopped being in action on that goal. Then you have reduced obtaining your goal to waiting for it to fall out of the sky! And I really do hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but that ain’t gonna happen! And in all seriousness, if you want to obtain goals in that fashion, how much are you really invested in them?
Here are a few tips to keep you on track with meeting your goals:
- STAY IN ACTION! Even baby steps are movement from standing still. We all want to make sweeping large gestures to reach a goal, but this is not something that is sustainable. So enjoy the opportunities to take the large leaps, but in quieter times just make sure to stay in action.
- Create a to-do list with 3-5 actions you plan on taking to stay in motion. When you check those off the list, create another list. Seeing what actions to take will help keep things organized in your head.
- Understand that it is ok to modify the deadline. This is just an estimate!
- If you find yourself missing a lot of deadlines on a goal you must have a ‘Come to Jesus’ talk with yourself and really reflect on if you have really fallen out of action and if the goal is really meant for you.
- It is also ok to let some goals go if they no longer align with your intention. It’s not failure. It is redistributing your energy on the more important goals.
Sometimes we are thrown little curve balls that may delay us. I planned on getting this blog post done and posted yesterday. Is it too late? No! I stayed in action, and it will go out today. I had to modify my deadline, but I still got it done! Goal achieved!
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