Deadlines That Change Everything

Stop Postponing Your Life: How Deadlines Unlock Extraordinary Results

A goal without a finish line is just a wish that keeps getting rescheduled. In this high-energy episode of the Living Lucky® Podcast, Jason and Jana Shelfer reveal why "someday" is the most dangerous word in your vocabulary and how a concrete deadline can move the needle exponentially in your personal development.

If you’ve been stuck in a loop of planning and postponing, we’re handing you the reset button. We explore how a dance competition, a smart toothbrush, and a looming launch date turned projects that were "sitting in the box" for four years into a four-day sprint.

In This Episode, Learn To:

• The Accountability Factor: Why private deadlines invite excuses, and how external commitments (like coaches or competitions) force you to show up as your best self.
• Gamify Your Consistency: How feedback loops, scorecards, and progress markers—like Jana’s smart toothbrush—can make habit-building addictive and fun.
• Raise the Stakes: Why putting "money where your mouth is" creates a psychological shift that stops you from negotiating with your limiting beliefs.
• Master the Team Huddle: How making goals visible on the wall turns a household into a high-functioning team.

Living Lucky® Nuggets:

• Deadlines Are Finish Lines: Urgency isn't stress; it’s clarity. A countdown timer forces you to prioritize: either you ship it, or you blow up the box.
• Invest to Manifest: The level of your investment determines the level of your commitment. Hire a coach to crack the whip or set a financial stake to protect your dream.
• Feedback Feeds the Soul: We are all conditioned to love "report cards." Use tracking tools to prove your progress and turn daily routines into a winnable game.
• Launch the Dream: You don't need more time; you need a date. The minute you put it on the calendar, the universe starts conspiring to help you finish. 

Stop waiting for the "perfect" time. Hit play to put a date on your destiny and start Living Lucky®!

Self-help, Personal development, Mindset, Positive thinking, Life coaching, Goal setting with deadlines, How to stop procrastinating, SMART goals for couples, Gamification of habits, External accounta

Transcript

Creating A Life You Crave

Jana Shelfer 0:00

Are you ready to create a life you crave? Let's spin that doom loop of negativity into an upward success cycle and start Living Lucky®. Good morning. I'm Jana. I'm Jason. And we are Living Lucky®. You are too. We're taking dance lessons again.

Jason Shelfer 0:22

Staying alive, staying alive.

Jana Shelfer 0:26

Were you sore after Friday?

Jason Shelfer 0:28

I was well, I wasn't sore muscle-wise. I think I pulled something in my groin.

Jana Shelfer 0:33

Why didn't you say anything?

Jason Shelfer 0:35

Because I had a good time, and I didn't want you to know how old I was feeling.

Jana Shelfer 0:40

You have to share these things, don't you think?

Jason Shelfer 0:43

I know, I know. I should have.

Jana Shelfer 0:44

That's necessary.

Jason Shelfer 0:46

No, well, we dance for two hours.

Jana Shelfer 0:48

Okay, so here's the thing. I said we're gonna sign up for a competition. And Jason says, I really don't think that's necessary. I I'm not sure we're the competition type.

Jason Shelfer 0:59

Well, what when is the competition?

Jana Shelfer 1:00

It's the end of July.

Jason Shelfer 1:02

Right. And that's not far.

Jana Shelfer 1:04

However, it's like a hundred dances. All right.

Jason Shelfer 1:07

So here's maybe it's like five or six.

Jana Shelfer 1:10

Here's the nugget for today. When I set a deadline, it doesn't have to be a competition, but when I set a deadline, a goal, something to work toward.

Jason Shelfer 1:23

A specific result.

Jana Shelfer 1:25

It moves the needle exponentially. And you can do this in any area of your life.

Jason Shelfer 1:31

Yeah. And it has to be, it's I when you set it when there's other people involved, when there, when there's something you have to show up for, there's a difference. If you set a mental deadline or just an on-paper deadline, that's it doesn't work. We often have, we will often give ourselves excuses to push it back.

Jana Shelfer 1:54

However, if you and I I actually feel like I pay money. I know that this sounds crazy, and this does not mean you have to pay money for your goal, but if you write a goal, put it on the wall, and put a hundred dollar behind your goal, I guarantee you're gonna show up a little differently for that.

Jason Shelfer 2:16

Yeah, well, it's invest in it however much you want to get out of it or more.

Jana Shelfer 2:22

Like I mean, if we started putting goals on the wall and putting a hundred dollar bill behind each goal, and you can't get that hundred dollar bill until you reach that goal, I think people would start moving moving their needles. I do, because I think eventually we'd be like, oh gosh, I need that hundred dollars.

Jason Shelfer 2:41

I'm running out of hundreds. I'm running out of hundreds.

Jana Shelfer 2:44

I need I need some money. I better go.

Jason Shelfer 2:47

Time is our only resource that we have.

Gamifying Habits With A Smart Toothbrush

Jana Shelfer 2:49

No, it's funny. It's so funny. I went and got a new toothbrush last week. Yes. And it's one of those IO toothbrushes where you gamify your toothbrush. Gamify, I I know, I've come to that point in my life. I'm I don't know whether I should even talk about this or be proud of it. So I'm gamifying my toothbrush, which means, I mean, it took me an hour to set up this darn thing. However, I love it. It scans your mouth. I have never my my teeth feel crazy clean, and it bothers me when it says, Oh my gosh, Jana, it's nine o'clock. You haven't brushed your teeth yet. What's happening? Well, I'm like, I'm still drinking my coffee.

Jason Shelfer 3:35

You didn't do a good job on this tooth.

Jana Shelfer 3:37

It does. It says you had overpressure. You you pressed too hard.

Jason Shelfer 3:42

This is what I need because the dentist told me that I'm brushing too hard.

Jana Shelfer 3:47

Yeah, I know, right? When did that become a thing?

Jason Shelfer 3:50

So I'm brushing too hard too long and um rushing. I'm like, I'm brushing too long and rushing? What does that even mean? Wait, you can brush too long? Well, yes. And I'm so I'm brushing because if you slow down.

Jana Shelfer 4:04

Oh my gosh, I didn't know that this podcast was gonna be about this, but this is interesting.

Jason Shelfer 4:08

She goes, you need to slow down, you need to be a little gentler because what you're doing is you're forcing your toothbrush on. She's like, Are you trying to attack your teeth? Okay, here's the thing. No, you're just trying to clean them.

Jana Shelfer 4:20

With this, with this toothbrush, you don't even you don't do anything.

Jason Shelfer 4:23

You just hold it up.

Jana Shelfer 4:24

You just hold it.

Jason Shelfer 4:25

Say, go to work, baby.

Jana Shelfer 4:26

And it literally will tell you whether you need to push it harder or softer.

Jason Shelfer 4:33

And it sings that little salt and pepper song.

Jana Shelfer 4:35

Ah, push it. No, it's not.

Jason Shelfer 4:40

It should.

Jana Shelfer 4:41

Anyway, but then you get points. You get points if you brush your teeth in the morning, you get points if you brush your teeth in the judged again in the evening.

Jason Shelfer 4:51

Frankly got fine.

Jana Shelfer 4:52

And then it keeps track if you wash your tongue, it keeps track if you floss, if you rinse, and like all these things. And it makes it a little game, but it keeps track of it. And then at the end of 30 days, then you get a scorecard. And I'm realizing I've been conditioned. This may be from grade school. I like getting report cards. I like at the end of the year when it says, you know what, you pass. You get to go on to the next grade. I even like it better when I get the Iowa basics test, and they say, you know what? You're in the 98th percentile of the world. You're a freaking genius.

Jason Shelfer 5:35

You're a rock star, baby. So you're a gold medalist, you're a champion.

External Motivation Through Coaches And Goals

Jana Shelfer 5:39

I I love that kind of feedback that that feeds my soul, and it makes me want to push harder. So, okay, back to dance.

Jason Shelfer 5:52

Well, this is setting setting those little tiny finish lines out there so that you know, okay, this is where I put I pour on the gas. This is where I I set those intermediary things that we have to get done that make the make us better in this zone.

Jana Shelfer 6:12

Here's the thing. So, you know, Jason and I are uh we're practically the same person in many ways. And we laugh a lot because we often say, you know, if there is one thing in our relationship, sometimes I would say that I am tired of being the whip in the relationship, and I sometimes want Jason to motivate me. Right. Like I'm tired of being the motivator. I want you to motivate me. These are my ways of getting some sort of external motivation.

Jason Shelfer 6:52

Yes. Well, and this is why we hire coaches too, though.

Jana Shelfer 6:55

It's why we hire coaches, it's why I get into activities. It is, it's just my way of helping myself stay. Stay on track to be my best self.

Jason Shelfer 7:12

Like set that next bigger dream. Because because what happens is like when we once we land, like once we got to this dream, like once we started Living Lucky®, it's easy to sit in Living Lucky®. Like it's it feels good. What's the next big thing? If we don't, if you don't sometimes if you don't hire that coach, they don't say, What's what's that next big thing? Like how do like where do we go? What's the next big dance competition? So you know, what's what's the next white gold medal?

Jana Shelfer 7:43

Okay, so you agree that we should do a dance competition. Did I just win this?

Jason Shelfer 7:51

Yeah, I feel I feel like I just got the Socratic method, like where you ask questions, get me back around to dance competition. Because before we started this podcast, I said, I don't know if we need to do a dance competition in July because I feel like it's coming up very close. And we have some other competitions that are coming up pretty close as well. So that's I was talking about capacity in the in the middle right now of what uh what all's happening with building courses, I understand other competitions dancing. However, I will say we can because it's exciting. Okay, so and I love traveling, so it fits in all my buckets.

Turning Long Dreams Into Launch Dates

Jana Shelfer 8:31

However, I will say you're right, you know, we have to pick and choose what we put our attention to. I will say though, with our relationship course that we have been doing, the minute that we put it on the calendar and we put a deadline to it, which is April 23rd. Yeah, April 23rd, which is a week away.

Jason Shelfer 8:53

It's flying out. It is and what's been sitting in the box for four years. Four years. And same with the book.

unknown 9:01

Yes.

Jason Shelfer 9:02

I mean, that's a four-day project now instead of a it's been sitting in the book for five years, six years. Yes. You know, so I get it. And I and I know this. And it's one of those things where it's it's we have a lot of these nice to-do's, want-to-do's, and then you put the timeline in front of it and you put the deadline, like, hey, this is here's a a countdown timer on it. Once that countdown timer goes off, it's over. And if it's not out of the box by then, we're blowing up the box.

Jana Shelfer 9:34

Yeah, then it's it's no longer on my radar. Yes. Don't ever ask me to write a book again.

Jason Shelfer 9:40

So once once you put that kind of countdown timer on it, it's like, let's get this out. Let's let's unpack it, let's put it together, let's let's put all the pieces together and let's let's see what it looks like. And that's there's an excitement to it, there's an energy to it, so I get it. And it's fun.

Jana Shelfer 10:00

Yeah.

Jason Shelfer 10:00

I'm having a freaking blast.

Jana Shelfer 10:02

Okay, good.

Jason Shelfer 10:02

We've had more energy. I haven't been able to sleep for the last six nights.

Jana Shelfer 10:06

I couldn't sleep at all last night. I could not sleep at all last night.

Jason Shelfer 10:10

What are we at? The April 17th? I haven't slept for the month of April because I've had so much energy.

Jana Shelfer 10:16

I couldn't even believe we were in the middle of April. I'm like, where is this world? Where's this life going?

Jason Shelfer 10:23

We're paying bills again in 13 days.

Jana Shelfer 10:27

Men, that's how they keep track of the calendar. Women keep track from their periods.

Jason Shelfer 10:34

We're paying bills again in 13 days, period. Oh, your period.

Jana Shelfer 10:42

Oh, stop. Okay, so if there is a nugget that I want to extract from this podcast, it is put a deadline on your goal. Write it down.

Jason Shelfer 10:55

Write it down. Put it on the don't write it down.

Jana Shelfer 10:58

I mean, these this is what smart goals are.

Jason Shelfer 11:01

We write our goals all over the place.

Jana Shelfer 11:04

I I sometimes write my goals for the day. And I write them down and I put them on the wall. This is what I want to accomplish today.

Jason Shelfer 11:12

Yes. And it feels to me like when I do that, it's not feel while we're going through those goals.

Jana Shelfer 11:21

It helps Jason say, okay, this is what Jana wants to get done today. If we all want to get on board, if we want a smooth sailing family, right? Let's let's get this done.

Jason Shelfer 11:32

Yeah. And if I if some of my goals get finished, then I can actually just say, hey, is there anything I can take off your plate for a minute?

Jana Shelfer 11:41

I know.

Jason Shelfer 11:41

Because that that changes things.

Jana Shelfer 11:43

That's a game changer as well.

Jason Shelfer 11:46

Because now I've seen it. Things I'm learning in the relationship, course. Oh stop.

Jana Shelfer 11:53

Well, because now we're playing team.

Jason Shelfer 11:55

Well, we're always a team.

Jana Shelfer 11:57

And you know, happy, happy family. Happy.

Jason Shelfer 12:00

Happy bow tick a bound. Wow. You already made that joke.

Jana Shelfer 12:06

How many times can we put that in the podcast?

Jason Shelfer 12:09

Set a goal, put a time on it, put a self-destruct time on it. So give yourself like a let's go. Let's go, Tom.

Jana Shelfer 12:18

Let's go now. Let's go now.

Jason Shelfer 12:20

Start now. Put a finish line on it so you know you've got to get over that goals goal line.

Jana Shelfer 12:24

And put a little money where your mouth is.

Jason Shelfer 12:26

There you go.

Jana Shelfer 12:27

I think that's important. Put a little money on it.

Jason Shelfer 12:31

If you want to make a change, invest in yourself.

Jana Shelfer 12:34

Invest in yourself and in your goals. And that that might mean you pay yourself once you finish it, once you accomplish it.

Jason Shelfer 12:42

That might mean you hire somebody to crack that whip.

Jana Shelfer 12:46

But I I have found, you know what, once I once I concrete, once it's concrete, all of a sudden I shoot. I shoot for it, man.

Final Push And Where To Find Us

Jason Shelfer 12:57

There you go. Thanks for joining us. Keep Living Lucky®. Bye-bye. Go get it.

Jana Shelfer 13:02

If the idea of Living Lucky® appeals to you, visit us at LivingLucky.com.