Is it ever ok to move a deadline?

<p>Have you ever set an unrealistic timeline to hit a goal or complete a project?</p><p>Actually, let me rephrase that.</p><p>Have you ever started a project and set a deadline by which the project should be done - and then at some point realized that deadline was going to be harder to hit than you thought?</p><p>I’ll be honest: this has happened to me.</p><p>Multiple times.</p><p>In fact, in 2020 our team was working tirelessly to prepare for a big promotion. We had set a deadline and, after a few weeks, I realized that it was going to be hard to meet it.</p><p>I was talking this through late one night with JD and he asked me, “Why can’t you move the deadline?”</p><p>His question (though annoying in the moment) was brilliant. It helped me realize that I had unknowingly applied a <em>meaning</em> to the deadline - if we hit it, it meant we were a capable team.</p><p>But that wasn’t at all true. It was just a story I was telling myself.</p><p>So I started asking myself a different question: could I have the courage to change the deadline without it meaning something about myself and/or my business?</p><p>If the answer was yes, I needed a framework to know if changing the deadline was in the best interest of our team and our customers. If you’re in need of this framework - I call it the “decision to delay” framework - then click play now to learn:</p><ul><li>[00:29] How the best business owners think about deadlines</li><li>[01:22] The decision I faced in 2020 on whether to push back a deadline</li><li>[03:04] What I learned about the meaning I was applying to deadlines I created</li><li>[06:10] The decision I faced in February 2023 on whether to push back a deadline</li><li>[09:19] The “decision to delay” framework that I used with the team in February</li><li>[12:09] What I was thinking and feeling as a CEO back in February</li><li>[15:56] What I learned from choosing to delay</li></ul><p>For full show notes, visit <a href='https://jasminestar.com/podcast/episode348'>jasminestar.com/podcast/episode348</a></p>