The Imminent Approach of Deadline Failures

Have you ever just had it? You've just had enough of your life not wanting to be what you want it to be, and you decide that from this point on, things are going to be different!

You set a target date, and you put the intention out there that by a certain date you are going to accomplish a certain goal. In fact, as far as you're concerned, you will probably get to your goal long before that date, but you decide that you are going to pick a spot on the calendar anyway, just to make things official.

Then you get started. For the first week or two, you do everything exactly right in order to bring you closer to your goal. You make no mistakes, your motivation stays high, and you might even start to see some results. Things are going exactly as planned, and you feel GREAT!

Then…IT happens.

The "it" can and will be pretty much anything that you can imagine. Maybe your car breaks down. Maybe you get a huge new project at work. Maybe you get the flu.

Something. Something happens that causes you to have to take some of your focus off of whatever you had intended with all of your heart that you were going to accomplish.

You tell yourself that everything is OK. You are still going to stick to your guns and see your plan through. You aren't going to let "IT" stand in your way!

So you move forward. You are still dealing with "IT", but you haven't given up on your goals. You really aren't giving them as much attention as you had planned to, but you haven't given up. You will NOT give up!

Then… SOMETHING ELSE happens.

Again, the "something else" can be whatever you can imagine. Maybe this time the water pipe broke in your house. Your son enters into 3 time per week basketball practice. Your spouse joins a bridge club, and now you are responsible for cooking every Friday night.

It's getting kind of hard to stay focused on the goal that you promised yourself that you were going to see through this time around, but you aren't giving up! Maybe you started with 7 days each week to work on your goal, and now you are down to only 3 or 4, but you are sticking it out.

Failure is not an option!

You sure are glad that you put that mark on a calendar, though. At the rate things are going, you are going to need that entire period of time to accomplish your goal after all. Funny how life keeps getting in your way, but you keep on trucking just the same.

Then…THE LAST STRAW.

Seems that now both Bobby and Suzi have sports practice several times per week, your boss just put you on mandatory overtime for the next 3 months, and your spouse has decided to start meditating every evening.

Now, you have no real time to speak of. Between Bobby, Suzi, your spouse, and your boss, suddenly every evening of the week is packed. Your weekends are filled with nothing but trying to get caught up on the things that you did not get done during the week.

You can now once again use the same phrase that you used several weeks ago when you made your resolve to accomplish your goal:

"From this point on, things are going to be different!"

Yes, they certainly are! Bobby and Suzi have needs. Your spouse has to meditate. Your boss can't miss his deadline.

In fact, the only individual who has not yet made demands on your time is Fluffy, the family dog. Oh wait, never mind. There goes fluffy into the laundry room with her pregnant belly hanging seriously low. Looks like it's time for that new litter of pups…

Does the story that you just read describe the way that your life seems to go sometimes? Although the actual identities of Bobby, Suzi, and Fluffy were changed to protect the innocent, you probably recognized those people, pets, spouses, or employers, didn't you?

In fact, you may have a calendar in front of you or close by right now that has one of those deadlines that you missed. And yet, here you still are, not having accomplished goals that you have set up for yourself over and over again in the past.

Deadlines are something that you are familiar with. You cruise by them on a regular basis, after having successfully handled the needs of other people in your life, but still not having made any real progress towards what YOU need.

How many times are you going to keep doing this? Is this year going to be any different? What about this month, this week, or this very day? What about RIGHT NOW?

Were you put on this earth to do nothing but serve others, and not enjoy your own life in the process? If so, then keep on doing what you are doing. People will continually allow you to take care of them - guaranteed.

Or, you could make a change and start enjoying your life and taking care of yourself, instead of just catering to the needs of others. It's okay to care about and take care of people. It is NOT okay to lose yourself in the process.

Think about it.