Over the years I’ve been known to set a deadline or two. I’ve also been known to ignore those deadlines and procrastinate even harder, but that’s not the point I’m trying to make. Ultimately I rarely use them as a tool when I write because of a very simple reason; missing one feels like failing.
Setting a deadline is a big deal. You’re making a commitment (whether just to yourself or to anyone else, it doesn’t matter) and by introducing that you’re creating a possibility of failure. It doesn’t really matter whether anyone even knows about the deadline you’re setting; it’s there and it’s your responsibility.
Now I have a real fear of failure (I’m sure everyone has their own laundry list of neuroses, right?) and giving myself a new way to do it never feels good. But then I also don’t write like I used to and will often let ideas languish as I never commit them to paper or screen.
So which is worse? The fear of failure to meet your own goals/targets/deadlines? Or is it worse to never actually start the work? The half-finished manuscript or the blank page?
Pick one.
Or pick neither and actually get it done. Set a goal, do the work. Or miss the goal but do the work anyway.
That’s my plan for this year. If I’m going to fail at anything (especially a deadline), I intend to at least fail whilst putting pen to paper (or fingertips to keys, or voice to mic, etc, etc, etc).
Care to join me?
The Unbalanced Power of Words 