Deadlines. Don't you just love them? No, me neither, but they're a way of life. In some ways though deadlines are a good thing, and can be used to your full advantage - if you know how to drive them.
Everyone knows what it's like preparing to go away on holiday. Aren't you amazed by your capacity to get everything done in the days and weeks before your plane takes off, your boat sets sail or the ice starts to melt in your drink? The sense of urgency is tangible because you have a non-negotiable immovable deadline to meet; your choice is simple: get your stuff done, or you don't go. It's a wonderful motivator, and invariably your deadline is met and your plane takes off with you on board. Fraught and exhausted you may be, but you're on board.
In the weeks and months prior to your holiday, you have applied concentrated effort to getting yourself out of the rat race for a fortnight; and concentrated effort is infinately more valuable than ordinary effort. So why not apply this pre-holiday concentrated effort to your everyday deadlines? You'd be sure to meet them then. I don't doubt you would probably be just as fraught and exhausted, but you would have achieved your deadline. Aren't the rewards worth the concentrated effort?
Another great motivation technique I have learnt recently, courtesy of Nigel Botterill, is this. If your life depended on it, could you achieve _____________ by ______________ ? Be serious. If you had to achieve X by Y or you'd die, could you do it, could it be done? If, under such extreme conditions, you could do it, or it could be done, well then go and do it!
Napoleon Hill gives us another deadline driving lesson in Think & Grow Rich, which is this. Burn your boats. Burn your bridges. Win - or perish. Stake everything. Give every breath. Fight to the last inch. Refuse to fail. Expect to succeed.
These two philosophies, from Nigel Botterill and Napoleon Hill, are the main driving forces behind the deadline Ian and I have set ourselves, for opening our kitchen showroom to the public during August Bank Holiday weekend. In 15 short weeks [gulp]. And open it shall be, because we have said so publicly - and even more publicly since this blog was published! We have burnt our bridges. We have committed ourselves to Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August 2010, and we will meet that deadline with bells on.
We have been promising ourselves a kitchen showroom for more than three years now and it just hasn't happened. We didn't give ourselves any sense of urgency, until a few weeks ago when we decided it would be in the best interests of the business to get this done. We had been guilty of being world class at getting ready, and the business needed us to apply concentrated effort.
There's a hell of a lot of work to complete before Saturday 28 August, in addition to our daily work schedule, evening sales appointments and family commitments, but it will be done because we expect to succeed and will refuse to fail. We may be fraught, exhausted and propped up on brooms during our Grand Showroom Opening, but we'll be proud and happy too. This entirely self-imposed deadline is going to help us achieve a long-standing goal, we just had to clear the head trash and get on with it.
So, there you have it. IKD Kitchens Bedrooms & Bathrooms will be opening a new kitchen showroom on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 August 2010. Please drop by and say "hi" as we'd love to see you - why not bring a friend along? We may even have some wine and Horlicks on the go! Click here for directions and we'll look forward to seeing you in August!
In the meantime however why not see your deadlines as challenges rather than chores - have you seen what Jack Bauer can achieve in 24 hours?! What do you mean he's not real? For God's sake no one say that in front of Ian - he's something of a fan(atic).
PS: Jack never gives up either, does he?
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