Do you have big goals with no deadline? Do you tell people I am going to write a book or start a business someday? Someday isn’t good enough. Find out below why it is so important to put deadlines on your goals.

 
 

Now a key part of the goal setting process is setting a deadline and it’s the part that so many people skip. And it is so obvious why that happens. It’s because they are scared of failing. 

If your goal doesn’t have a deadline then you can’t really fail. If you say I want to be a millionaire, write a book, or start a company but don’t set a deadline then when another year rolls around and you have still haven’t done anything that’s fine because it is a someday goal.

Someday goals virtually never happen.

I know you might be scared of failing, but if you don’t set a deadline then you can’t succeed either. So please make sure that every goal you set has a deadline. 

Now how do you set a deadline?

Well setting a deadline is a balancing act. You need to consider what time frame you genuinely believe you can achieve the goal in but still be setting a deadline that will keep you motivated.

After reading The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks Than Others Do in 12 Months I realised the power of having goals set over a smaller timeframe. The truth is that when you set a goal for a year, you have the opportunity to do nothing for a few months because it feels so far away and then as the year progresses you fall further and further behind and then one of two things happens. You either realise you are too far behind and it is too much work so give up. Or you get your head down, totally commit and have a massive burst of attention and determination to achieve your goal.

The best thing you can do is keep your goals short enough that they motivate you for the duration of the goal. And if you have to set a long goal, then be sure to set sub-goals with sub-deadlines to keep you motivated.

Now it is time to go back through your goals list and make sure every goal has a deadline and that is is a deadline that motivates you.