2 words that ABSOLUTELY will keep you average and medicore if you speak them. I made a decision last year that since I am not a huge fan of flying .. because I’ve done SO much of it .. that whenever possible, I would not fly in economy again. I believe you only have one chance at life, and if you can afford it, you should enjoy the journey! So on this flight, I was sitting in business class after having boarded the plane. I had settled in a bit and was just relaxing, waiting for the activity to die down before take-off. 2 gentlemen in their 40’s came down the aisle. Because there was a back-up of people in front of them, they had to stop for 30 seconds or so and stand in the aisle while the traffic cleared ahead of them. As they were standing beside me in the business class section, one of them looked around a bit, and then said to his friend, “you know, one day we’re gonna be sitting up here”. His friend turned to him and nodded .. and replied, “For sure .. we’ll be up here some day.” Wow. For whatever reason, at that moment, what he said hit me like a sack of hammers. I had a very powerful realization, being a silent observer in this innocent exchange between two friends, about why so many people never get where they want to be. And it comes down to the 2 words he uttered … “some day”. Like these 2 guys, many people tell themselves they’re going to do something “some day“. That “some day“, they’ll get in shape. That they’ll get their mortgage paid off “some day“. That they’re going to work on their relationship with their spouse “some day“. They tell their kids, they’ll take them to Disneyland “some day“. It hit me, sitting there, how it is that I think a lot differently than most people. When the first guy suggested that one day they’d sit in business class, my mind immediately responded “Really? When?” That’s truly what my response would have been had he been boarding the plane with me, and said the same thing to me. I’ve conditioned myself to naturally focus on specifics, and clarity. When I hear someone say that they want to achieve a specific goal, my first question is “by when?” Because one of the most critical elements of setting a goal IS to set a deadline. Goals without deadlines are simply dreams .. and it’s great to have dreams, but chances are you’ll never achieve them without applying a deadline to them. I can remember when I was the guy walking through the first class seats, telling myself “one day, I’m going to sit up here“. The difference is, I decided that I was going to DO something about it, and I started setting goals and deadlines for myself. And the rest is history. Saying “some day” is like saying “tomorrow”.. and the problem is, tomorrow never comes. To make a change, you MUST make that change in the present moment, because it’s the ONLY time you can actually do anything. Saying you’ll do something tomorrow is procrastination, and is what kills most people over time. It keeps people from achieving their potential, and keeps them locked in the average life they settle for. I almost felt like stopping those guys and telling them that if they were serious about what they had said, that they should set a specific deadline for when they wanted it to be — and then move in the direction of that goal. Of course, had I said that, they’d have looked at me like I was from Mars and probably smacked me. But it’s the truth — if you find yourself saying that you’re going to do something, or accomplish something “some day” or “one day” .. catch yourself and attach a deadline. You’ll be amazed at how many more of your ‘dreams’ suddenly move toward you simply by setting a deadline to them!]]>