A Writer With No Deadline

Where do I start with this article? My head is swimming with thoughts and the opinions of great teachers. As I process the opinions of great teachers and compare them with the greatest teacher of all time, Jesus, I sense there is some disharmony with the great company of motivational speakers that seem to dominate business success.

The biggest problem I have with the motivational world is that they measure success with just one thing . . . money. Success is measured by how much money you make.

On the other hand, Jesus describes success, not by how much money you make, but to what degree you become like Him. The ultimate goal of our journey here on earth as a Christian is to become like Jesus, to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).

In the face of such a pursuit, money seems hollow and empty. Jesus is not by any means against money, but if money becomes the number one goal in life, then you have already broken the first commandment: You shall  have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:3).

I have encountered Christians who are consumed day and night with the task of becoming rich. They justify their lifestyle by saying that when they become rich, they will give half of their income to God’s work. However, while they are in the process of becoming rich, they give nothing, and they ignore their brother who is in dire need. They are on a collision course with disaster because Jesus said,

“If you are not faithful in a very small thing, you will not be faithful in a very big thing (Luke 16:10 My paraphrase).

Still, there are many things that motivational teachers teach that are invaluable to the Christian. I have learned many valuable things from Jesse Paul Smith, my good friend that we book in school assemblies. Jesse is an on-fire Christian who has been able to serve as a “life coach” to many in the corporate world. His delivery in school assemblies has to be non-religious, so the delivery centers around being successful in life in general. One of the things he said has stuck with me as a life changer . . . so simple, yet so profound.

The principle is this: By writing down your goals and aspirations on a piece of paper, you become 80% more likely to succeed than if you don’t write them down. Is that not a terribly simple act that can make a huge impact in your life?

Yet think about it. How many people have a dream that is floating loosely in their head, but they never write it down?

I am guilty. God tells me what to do and how to do it, and I may kick it around and around in my head for months and never write it down. Just recently, He impressed upon me, not only to write down my vision, but to produce line-items and attach dollar figures to each item, that is to say, what dollar amount each step of the plan will require. Just two days later, I was asked about my vision. After I laid it out in words, I gave that individual a single sheet of paper that showed the dollar requirements of the plan. To my surprise, the man expressed interest in getting behind it.

If you write your vision on paper and hand it out, you are committed, are you not? Now someone else has the vision and can share it with others. Your dream has become public. Your dream has caught you. You cannot now back out or you will appear to the be quitter. If you quit just once, that branding will follow you, and people will be reluctant to get behind you for fear you will quit again and waste their valuable time.

If you try and fail at any endeavor, that is no crime. The most successful people in the world have usually failed many times in the process of succeeding. Thomas Edison failed 1000 times before he succeeded in inventing the light bulb. So, failing is no sin . . . but quitting is!

You are probably familiar with the saying, “Quitters never win, but winners never quit” Jesus said that no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).

So, what does all of this have to do

with the writer with no deadline?

A writer without a deadline will likely never write the book. Setting a date by which we will accomplish a task, means we will not just think about our project, but we will do something about it.

Each week I write an article for the website georgeandlorraine.com. Each Tuesday morning, early, I send links of the article out via texting and emailing. That means the article must be posted Monday night. Lorraine and I have developed a routine of creating this article each week. I try to give her the title early in the week to give her time to come up with a concept for a picture and the means to photograph that picture. Sometimes it requires purchasing props, so that consideration must be given to the lead time for the final photograph.

When I was working as a Creative Director in the corporate world my boss would give me various projects. Usually, in his enthusiasm, he would pile on more projects than I could do. If a project wasn’t getting done to his satisfaction, he would march into my office and announce a date by which it had to be finished . . . a deadline, in other words. Then it would get done.

How many of your are going through life, carrying a vision or dream around in your head, but it never gets done? Perhaps it never gets started. This is a common thing. Many more dreams are never birthed than those that are. It is just a characteristic of human nature.

If you want to move into the small percentage of successful people who accomplish their dreams, here is what you must do:

1. Write the vision out on paper.
2. Prepare a line-item account of what the vision entails and attach a dollar figure to each item, what it will take to see that item accomplished.
3. Prepare a timeline. Break each line-item down to hours. How many hours of your time does that item require? By doing this simple exercise, you can determine how long the whole project will take and you can set a deadline.
4. If you have a funding requirement, consider those who might help. Successful people are drawn to people who believe in themselves and have passion and conviction. If you have passion and conviction, that positive and powerful energy will come out as you share your vision with others. If you have your dream broken down into a plan with steps, that will impress them, because they then know you are serious about accomplishing your dream. Carry your written plan with you. You never know when you might need it. If someone expresses interest in your dream, you can give them a breakdown of the cost, and at that moment you just might be on your way.

Take a lesson from the writer with no deadline. Don’t be like him. Be the person who knows what he wants to do, how he wants do do it, and when he plans to finish it. If you follow this simple plan, you might be absolutely astounded by what you can accomplish.

. . . And that exercise will put you one step ahead in your Christian walk.

Photo’s designed and taken by Lorraine