Deadlines
November 12, 2007
A lot of people say that a goal isn’t a goal without a deadline.
I think deadlines can be extremely useful. But sometimes, with the more complicated things the truest deadline is “however long it takes.”
I guess there are a couple of purposes to deadlines. One is to make a goal something that is specific so that you either achieve it or you don’t. A deadline serves in this way as a crutch to help you make sure that you don’t deceive yourself. A second purpose is to give something that isn’t intrinsically urgent artificial urgency. A third purpose is to add challenge to what might otherwise be too easy.
I think that deadlines are appropriate for a lot of goals. On the other hand, there are a few things that are truly central to your life. They can’t be accomplished in a fixed and known amount of time. And the hope is that they have place in your life whether or not the deadline is drawing near. With those things their isn’t a deadline but rather a decision: “I will do whatever it takes now and forever. “
November 15, 2007 at 7:26 am
You are right. You can’t always set a deadline, or at least deadlines seem to apply to only certain types of goals. Or maybe it is just that deadlines can apply, but they apply to intermediate steps along the way to reaching the ultimate goal. Perhaps you can’t set a deadline to (for example) become perfect by a certain date, but you can set a deadline to have read a certain portion of the scriptures or to have done your home teaching or to have reviewed your goals in life, all of which help toward the ultimate goal of perfection.