Jacaranda Blues: Why self imposed deadlines are the most important

Jacarandas have a distinctive purple blue hue. Right now in Brisbane their vibrant blossoms are starting to emerge as spring unfolds across the city.

As a university student, the arrival of the Jacaranda blossoms was a cause for great fear and dread. It heralded the imminent arrival of exams and a very stressful time of year. One of the legends of our university was that if a jacaranda blossom fell on your head, you would forget everything you'd learned. You would never see students sitting under jacaranda trees when they were in bloom!

That's a shame, because they are magnificent trees, with strong branches and sweet, delicate blossoms. Now that I'm no longer studying, I welcome the appearance of the beautiful blossoms and the upcoming festive season.

I may not have exams anymore, but I still have deadlines. This year I've been writing a book, with the launch date set for mid November. I've set my timeline to ensure that the book will be written, edited and published in time for the launch. Of course, I've had to set time aside to do the work required to meet these deadlines and certainly at times that has generated stress, as I've struggled to balance commitments to get everything done.

During this process one friend said - don't worry, they're only self-imposed deadlines. The implication is that deadlines we set for ourselves are somehow less important. If we set the deadlines ourselves, then surely we can change them to suit ourselves? Of course, that's true.

Students don't choose the date of the exam, but they do choose to study a particular course and to put themselves through a process that involves examination. In some way most deadlines are self-imposed.

If we can't keep to the deadlines we set for ourselves, how can we keep to the deadlines imposed by others? If we want to achieve anything in life, we need to have an end-point in mind. There are many demands on our time and energy. So, why do we consider our own goals to be less important?

I challenge you today to set one goal for yourself that you'll complete before the last Jacaranda blossom falls. Will you be true to yourself?

Monique's book, Pivot Point: making the decisions that matter in business will be released in November. You can pre-order your copy now.