How many of us scramble to get out of the door most mornings? Regardless of having a regular schedule and knowing how much time I need to get ready, most days I’m still frantically trying to get out the door. Why? Because unplanned things come up that I have to deal with, or, that I choose to deal with. Put away or do the dishes, make a fancy breakfast, check my emails, browse social media, change my outfit or hairstyle multiple times, stare out the window while I drink coffee, to name a few. Even though every time I say “I’ll give myself more time tomorrow”, I usually don’t.

The whole “before leaving the house scramble”, is in a lot ways a metaphor for (or a foreshadowing of), our lives. Despite knowing we have limited time, we often overshoot and misjudge it. Just like our morning routine, we become distracted by things for which we didn’t plan, or didn’t plan would take so much time. For example: we take a job we don’t really like to pay off our debt, and then stay there for too many years, we have to move because our partner got a new job in a different city, we get divorced, our car dies and we need to buy a new one, we don’t get that promotion we were hoping for, and more. We get so caught up in our day-to-day “urgencies” that we forget the clock is ticking away on our larger, long-term goals.

A lot of us end up running late in our day-to-day, and on our dreams, because we aren’t being realistic and we haven’t planned properly. Realistic meaning: How distracted do I get? How long will something take me in real time (not imaginary time)? Will I realistically be able to shower and get ready in under 5 minutes? Will I realistically be able to complete an Ironman if I only train for three months? Those are probably unrealistic ideas and end with us running out of time. Planning properly also takes time and energy, so we usually half-ass it. Day-to-day planning can be hard enough, so planning for things one, five, ten years in the future can be even harder. Typically the harder something is, the more rewarding and better off you are when you’ve done it. We all need to move away from talking about this distant goal or dream we have as if we have all the time in the world, we don’t. Sit down and plan out the logistics, everything you can think of that would be required. Over-planning is much better than under-planning when it comes to life accomplishments. Not to mention putting them on paper gets you one step closer to accomplishing it.

The upside with our morning ritual is that if we mess up, tomorrow we do it all over again, and hopefully we can learn from our mistakes. The problem with our lives is that we aren’t really given that do-over. When we run out of time, which we all do, that’s it. Unlike our busy morning, where driving like a maniac on the highway can potentially get us to our destination on time, we have to reflect on all of our unachieved hopes and dreams. We get to think about how we don’t have any time left. A little harsh I know, but we all need that wake up call. The upside is our time hasn’t run out, and we are still able to achieve our large goals. What we have to realize though is that whatever we’re doing right now may not be getting us to where we want to be. So something has to change. We need to realize time isn’t infinite, it has an end. Now is the time to go after what we want, now is the time to make that positive change. Below are the tactics I use to help keep me in check and on track to do the things I want.

1.  Write down your goals and figure out what you need to do to get them.

– What’s my timeline? How can I break my end goal into smaller “bite-sized” goals?

– How much money do I need to save and by what date?

– How much time do I need to train/study/create/work?

– Whose support do I need? Do I need my partner’s/family’s/friends’ help?

– Has someone else done this and how can I could learn from them?

2. What are some of the things that could prevent you from doing these things? What is your plan to get around those obstacles?

– What is my financial back-up plan?

– What will I change or do differently if by a certain date I haven’t achieved one of my bite-sized goals?

– What am I going to do to motivate myself when I’m feeling worn out or down on myself?

– What will I do if I don’t have the support of my partner/family/friends?

– What will I do if my timeline gets messed up?

– What is my overall backup plan if things go astray?

These questions might seem obvious, and they are. Achieving big goals isn’t rocket science, it’s a proven system that anyone can do. The problem is most of us spend more time planning out the seating chart for our wedding, what new car we’re going to get, or who we want on our fantasy football team, than planning our big goals in life. No one wants to be running late or out of time, yet so many of us still do. We’re only guaranteed today, and if what we’re doing now isn’t getting us any closer to our big dreams in life, only we can change that. My question to everyone reading this is, what dream have you been putting off? My challenge to you is: go after it and start planning today. Remember only you can make the change, and only you can achieve your goal.