Give your goal a feature that will vastly improve its chances of being fulfilled. Give your goal a deadline.

A deadline provides a firm boundary for your efforts, yet it does not limit or constrain those efforts. On the contrary, a deadline will focus your efforts toward a single point, giving them more power and practical effectiveness.

Without a deadline you can exhaust yourself and still not arrive at any meaningful accomplishment. A deadline compels you to prioritize and to expend your best efforts in the most meaningful direction.

With a deadline, you are constantly reminded of how valuable and precious your time is. You're able to see resources and opportunities that would otherwise remain hidden.

A deadline encourages you to do the best you can with what you have. And that's a skill that reliably leads to great accomplishment again and again.

Give yourself a deadline. And get the job done sooner rather than never.

-- Ralph Marston