Fake Deadlines: Can You Please Just Stop?
First off, let me just say I’m also calling myself out in this blog. I make up deadlines all the time. Sometimes they are great and motivate me to get my butt in gear. Other times, they are forcing, pushing me to do things before I have the mental space to really get after it.
But also, I am calling out everyone who posts about fake deadlines. Let me explain.
What Are You Going to Do with the Last 29 Days of the Decade?
This phrase right here is driving me nuts. It’s December of 2019, it’s not the end of the world. I think we all learned about how silly we could be in 1999 when we thought all computers would just stop working and the economy would come to a grinding halt at midnight.
Newsflash: The only difference between December 31, 2019 and January 1, 2020? A few hours.
Here’s what doesn’t happen at the close of a decade:
Problems magically and automatically resolve
Your dream’s deadline passes
You fail for not “making the most” of December
All these made up deadlines and motivational fear tactics aren’t helping you to succeed. You aren’t going to be happier because you hustled your way through the holiday season. Hustling and go-getting for the sake of busyness is actually going to hurt your productivity and vision.
Slow Down and Really Think about Your Fake Deadlines
I’ll use myself as an example so that we can all call out our own bullshit stories and stop making ourselves feel bad when we don’t hit our fake deadlines.
I’m currently working on redoing my website, creating my own signature services, and working on how best to launch these things into the world. It’s a lot. I feel overwhelmed. And yet, I set a ridiculous fake deadline for myself: Get these things launched by the end of 2019.
Today, I woke up sick for the first time in a long time. But on my to-do list was creating my new homepage’s copy, and I purposely booked today off from client work so I could do this. Instead of resting, reading and letting go of my fake deadline, I attempted to sit down and get to work, because I HAD TO.
Every single deadline for my own business is self-imposed. If I don’t launch before the end of the year, no one is going to die. If I need to take today to rest, reflect and get better, that doesn’t mean I’ll never get this copy written. It just means I’ll have to do it later this week.
And why exactly did I think I needed to launch before the end of the year?
Because I bought into the marketing messages on Insta and LinkedIn about making the most of the remaining weeks in the decade.
Marketing Madness: Stop Buying into their Deadlines
Don’t forget that it’s the end of most business’s fiscal year, and oh yeah, Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness. People are trying to rush you into a purchasing decision so that they hit their own self-imposed goals and deadlines.
Don’t fall for it. You don’t NEED to buy someone’s eCourse or coaching program to get your business to the next level. And even if you found an amazing course or coach to work with, you don’t have to launch or finalize anything on their schedule.
Make sure what you’re doing feels good to you. Make sure you’ve put the time, energy and care into what you create and are releasing into this world. If that means spending all of December making things better and launching sometime in 2020, let me reiterate: no one is going to die.
Don’t let others pressure you into doing things on their schedule.
Slow down and think about what you want from your work.
Give yourself time to ponder, improve and decide when it’s ready.
Throw that made up deadline out the window, and please, for the love of God, stop believing that the end of the decade marks the end of your dreams.
