A Year From Now You'll Wish You Started Today

I have this patronizing little magnet on my filing cabinet reminding me every day that there are goals I'm not pursuing. It's like when people put a photo of their fat ass on the refrigerator to stop them from over-eating. It may not stop you from eating, but it'll definitely make you feel shitty about yourself.

Years ago, when I was a legal assistant at an entertainment law firm in Beverly Hills (would not recommend), I worked alongside a woman who was a lot like me in many ways. She was also an aspiring screenwriter, and we became fast friends. Shortly after I met her, she decided that after 7 years, she wasn't going to pursue a career in screenwriting anymore. She was going to be a doctor. What? She was 29 at the time, and all she had education-wise was a Bachelor of Arts degree from a liberal arts college! Becoming a doctor would mean starting from scratch. Did I mention she was already 29?

But today, she's a doctor. She's married, with kids, and she works in emergency medicine. She might have said, at 29, "I'm too old for that- it'll take years." Well, it's been years, and because she went for it, she's now a doctor.

Do you have a big goal hidden in the back of your closet? Do you want to be a professional screenwriter? An actor? An acupuncturist? A doctor? I know this sounds pretty obvs, but if you want to achieve that goal, you're gonna have to pursue it.

"But I have a full time job and kids! I don't have time to pursue my dream of becoming a professional lion tamer!" I'll argue that you do have time. You may not have much time, or it may be a real challenge for your family to make it happen, but I bet you can find that time somewhere. Because if you make the time, and you start today, next year you could be headlining at the circus!

Easier said than done, right? Here are some steps you can use to help you achieve your goal:

• Step 1: Write down your goal (ex: I'm going to be a lion tamer.)

• Step 2: Write down all the things that need to be accomplished in order to achieve that goal (ex: learn how to tame lions; get lion taming license; find a lion, etc.)

• Step 3: Write down when you're going to do each of those things (ex: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 6am-8am.)

• Step 4: Move heaven and earth in order to stick with your schedule. Get someone else to take the kids to school. Make the kids take themselves to school! Wake up earlier than usual! Yes, I know you're not a morning person. Blah blah blah. Shut up and do it.

Or you can do nothing but put a photo of your fat ass on your refrigerator, and come back here in a year and show me how you're no further along than where you are today.

Patronizing, isn't it?