Life Advice, From Me (Seth Godin & Walt Disney) to You

I was reading Seth Godin's blog the other day and he posted a thought called Six Things About Deadlines. It's a smart read overall, but I wanted to highlight for you Thing No. 5. It states:

When we set ourselves a deadline, we're incredibly lax about sticking to it. So don't (set it for yourself, in your head, informally). Write it down instead. Hand it to someone else. Publicize it. Associate it with an external reward or punishment. If you don't make the deadline, your friend gives the $20 you loaned her to a cause you disagree with...

I received advice like this years ago, and I've used it since and can vouch for the increased degree of productivity and motivation you'll experience. I'm a lady of many dreams, and every so often one of them makes it to the top of my list and becomes a goal. When an idea leaves dream-world and enters reality, I follow a few key steps, outlined below.

• Step One is to figure out why you truly want to achieve this goal (you'll be asked this when you tell folks about this new goal, and it's good for yourself to really KNOW WHY you want to do this before you get started)
• Step Two is to determine what the varying degrees of success are. What level of success do you want to achieve? What level is realistic? What level will be enough to keep going?
  
• Step Three requires you give yourself a realistic deadline. At what point, if you haven't reached a certain level of success, should you change course?
• Step Four is to tell everyone. Tell your parents, siblings, friends, significant other, dentist, etc, and tell them all about steps one, two and three. When they know all about it, you'll be surprised how much motivation will follow. What could have been an "it would be nice" thought, kept to yourself and quickly forgotten, is now something made real. People know about it, and the next time you see them they'll be asking how it's going. Believe me, you'll want to give them an answer that you're proud of.

These steps can help you achieve all sorts of goals, from weight loss to career changes to the purchase of a boat. I double-dog-dare you to try it. ;)

I have painted on my wall a quote from Walt Disney: "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." Amen.

Props to Seth for providing such good advice on his blog. I suggest you check it out and bookmark the page for future life/marketing/business advice. And props to Mr. Disney for voicing such a motivating truth.

I hope this post inspires some great life goals. Best wishes to you!