REMEMBER THAT SCENE from 300 where Leonidas is getting pierced with arrows from every direction, but he continues attacking his enemy until his last breath? It’s stressful and painful to watch as he swings his sword with aggression and purpose. Deep down you know that it’s the end, but his persistence gives you a little shred of hope. That’s what I looked like in high school the night before a major project was due. I had three weeks to get this twenty-page essay done, but lo and behold there I was at eleven o’clock on a Sunday night guzzling down my third can of Coke. I’d tried to write the essay the previous Sunday, but I couldn’t find a comfortable enough pen to create an outline, so I had to go supply shopping. A few days later I’d tried again, but it turned out my desk was too messy to work on, so I had to clean my room. And the basement. And mow the lawn. And, for the first time in my life, do my laundry. The day before, I had been committed to doing this essay but I sneezed a few times and decided to take it easy and watch some medicinal TV instead.
Procrastination is a hustler’s worst enemy. It’s that little voice inside of us that craves instant gratification and convinces us that almost anything can be put off for later, no matter how unrealistic. As a result, you will wait until the last possible minute to start your assignment, leave your house for a meeting, or change your car’s oil. In most cases you’ll get the task done somehow, some way. Maybe it wasn’t done to the best of your ability, but you probably still got it done. Now, imagine how powerful procrastination would be if you had absolutely no deadline at all—completing the work was merely good for you. You would be seventy-two years old and in an old folks’ home trying to finish your math homework from the tenth grade. And even then you would convince yourself that your wheelchair wasn’t comfortable enough, so you’d get to that homework later.
Throughout most of my life, deadlines were put in place for me because someone else was in charge: a professor, my parents, or my boss. When I decided to take control of my own life and become an entrepreneur, no one was around to tell me what to do and when to do it. With that reality came a beautiful freedom. And with that freedom came the possibility of making bad choices. If it was a random Monday and I wanted to sleep the entire day, no one was going to stop me. I quickly learned that I had to be my own boss and set deadlines for myself, or I would go nowhere fast. I created a schedule that required me to upload a video on my channel every Monday and Thursday. The CEO of YouTube isn’t ever going to write me up if I don’t deliver—the only person I have to answer to is me. This upload schedule prevents me from overthinking and procrastinating and prompts me to get things done. It’s a major reason for my success.
As you can imagine, creating deadlines takes a huge amount of self-control, and that’s why sometimes you have to force them upon yourself. For years I would tell myself that “one day” I’d move to Los Angeles. The comfort of home and the tediousness of obtaining legal documentation caused me to put off the move. One month I blamed the delay on a family vacation; another month I was sick; the month after that was my birthday and, well, it takes me thirty days to plan a party. Finally, during one business trip to L.A., I decided to take a step forward and go apartment hunting. I scoped out about five or six places and conveniently disliked them. Yet again I had to delay my plan. At this point, setting a deadline in my mind wasn’t enough to make things happen. I needed to force myself to make the move, so I sent an email out to my team that said on December 1 I would be moving to L.A. That was in four months. I called my insurance company and told them to cancel my car insurance effective December 1. I did the same with my cellphone provider. I created a situation in which I wouldn’t be able to function in Toronto on December 2, thus forcing me to move before that date.
One month prior to moving I still didn’t have an apartment in L.A. I told myself that no matter what, on December 1, I would move. If that meant staying at a hotel with all my boxes, then so be it. That would be my own fault. Two weeks prior to moving I had some business in Los Angeles, so I made one last attempt to find an apartment. One, two, three down and no luck. Hotel it is! However, the very last apartment I looked at, two weeks before moving, hours before heading back to Toronto, was perfect. It was a little more expensive than I was hoping for, but my deadline didn’t allow me to overthink. Within twenty-four hours I signed the lease. A few days later I ordered furniture. A few days after that I had a going-away party. That night I packed all my stuff, and the next morning I moved to Los Angeles.
This is an extreme example of deadline setting, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t absolutely terrifying to not have an apartment two weeks prior to moving. However, the lesson I learned is one that has helped me throughout my career: force deadlines. Sometimes I find myself sitting on a video idea for way too long. I’ll come up with a great concept that cannot be executed in one day, and so I’ll hold on to it with the hope that I’ll have more free time later. I won’t. I never do. Instead, I now confirm a shoot date and hire an entire crew even before I have a script or confirmed actors. Writing a date on my calendar and setting a deadline forces me to find the time to get my act together. When I want to collaborate with other creators, I do the same thing. I’ll confirm a date for us to shoot and I’ll have absolutely no idea what the creative is until the night before. It’s stressful and sometimes a bit overwhelming, but I always get it done, every single time.
For larger projects or goals such as “open my own restaurant” or “write a movie script,” it’s harder to set just one deadline. Instead, it may be smarter to break the goal down into small pieces and assign each of those pieces a specific deadline. For example, instead of saying that you are going to “write a movie script,” break your goal down into smaller, more manageable pieces, such as “create a log line,” “finish character outline,” “create mood board,” etc. If you need to force yourself to stick to those deadlines, set meetings with partners or friends and commit to sharing your ideas with them on a certain date. Deadlines are always easier to follow when they’re public and you’re held accountable for them. This is why I publicly promote my video schedule. If Monday and Thursday uploads were my little secret, then my week would simply never have a Monday or Thursday. I would practice a five-day week. The moon would have to adjust accordingly.
Think of something you’ve been wanting to do for a long time but have never gotten around to. I want you to take a second and look deep inside yourself. Do you REALLY want to accomplish this task? Are you willing to work your absolute hardest for it? Are you willing to acknowledge that your hardest isn’t your hardest, and then work even harder than that? If the answer is yes, grab a calendar and set a deadline.
Can’t think of anything? Let me help you out. You will finish reading this book by ____________________.
The clock is ticking.
YOU’RE TAKING A MAJOR TEST, applying for a job, auditioning for a movie, starting a sales pitch, or making a presentation to your entire school. Whatever it is, you’re about to do something important and you’re thinking that if it doesn’t work out, your life is literally over. You might as well be Kenny from South Park because there’s no hope for you. You need this. Your entire existence depends on this! You are a mere mortal and this success is essential to your survival. It’s basically oxygen!
To this I say: STOP. I don’t want you to be gasping for air like a fish out of water when you have something important to do. If you think about it, it’s quite terrifying and, to be blunt, stupid to base your entire education or career on one opportunity. Of course some things in life are very important, but a Bawse understands that no one thing should make or break you.