From my “James Bond List” Section:

In his book The Monk & The Riddle Randy Komisar discusses the “Deferred Life Plan” as follows:

Step One: Do What You Have To Do
Step Two: Do What You Want To Do

The idea of this plan is drilled into us from childhood. Themes of putting your time in, earning your dessert or learning to walk before you run are common. The truth is the deferred life plan is a game of carrot and stick that doesn’t need to be played.

So why do we put off what we want to do indefinitely? If you believe we’re all rational beings, which I do, it really makes no sense that we would delay what we claim we really want to do in order to live an existence we don’t really enjoy. So what’s really going on here?

Our unconscious mind is immensely powerful and is committed to our own preservation. This commitment to avoiding pain is often short sighted or mislead. Now don’t get mad just yet, your unconscious really does have your best intentions at heart. For instance, what if what you want to do is retire in Costa Rica on a beach and surf all day? At the age of 40, with a possible retirement at 64 (it was 61 before the economic celebration of the past 6 months), Toby is focused on the end goal. He is able to pull himself through the hard, boring, and frustrating days by thinking about that beach in Costa Rica. This sounds like a great plan that will reward Toby for his years of hard work with an amazing retirement, right?

WHOA HOLD UP.  I hope my readers threw their hands in the air at that last comment. Lets think logically about this. Toby is going to dedicate 24 MORE years of his life in order to spend 11 years (based on the average male lifespan) doing something that teenagers and beach bums are able to do whenever they want!?

I think it was Tony Robbins whom I saw telling a story about a seminar he was hosting on his island in Fiji. The story was a conversation between a local island resident and a hard working American businessman attending the seminar.

Islander: You are always on the go, working so hard, how come?

Businessman: Well I need to be to grow my business and make money.

Islander: How come?

Businessman:  Isn’t it obvious. I need to work hard to grow my business so I can sell it and spend the rest of my days in the sun on a beach!

Islander: But I spend all my days in the sun and on the beach.

Us Westerners have an amazing ability to create convoluted stories in our own minds that justify ridiculous actions when in reality what we seek is often so simple.  We do this to avoid facing our fears and because we’re temporarily lacking courage. We value certainty and consistency in our lives and will do just about anything to preserve it. Change can be scary. A predictible, somewhat pathetic life, is less terrifying than a new and exciting future that could become anything.

Oh, your unconscious isn’t your only enemy. See, your friend’s and family’s unconscious minds are just as dedicated to protecting them and can’t risk your actions breaking the mold. If they see you break the rules and do incredible, fulfilling things with your life they may have to break their own routines and change is scary. To protect their asses expect to be told to grow up, be realistic, or stop acting like a kid.

So lets get back to Toby. We’ve determined his plan is stupid (I use such a basic word intentionally) and his unconscious really isn’t doing him justice, but why? How is his unconscious protecting him? His unconscious is protecting him from change, from uncertainty.

Lets say Toby negotiates a one month vacation as part of a new plan with his employer to allow him to start living for the present. He takes his month and flies to Costa Rica to begin his surfing adventure. Here are 3 of the possible outcomes his unconscious wants to protect him from:

1. He absolutely loves the surf and can not return to work. He knows he will be much happier quitting his job and finding a new way to live. While this solution will provide Toby with much long term happiness and fulfillment, in the short run it will result in instability, pain, and fear of the unknown. This is what his unconscious is trying to protect him from.
2. He hates surfing. The sand bugs him, the water tastes horrible and beach food isn’t his thing. Now Toby is left with no light at the end of the tunnel. He experiences massive pain as his life loses direction. This is what his unconscious is trying to protect him from.
3. Toby breaks his neck on a zip-lining tour and to pay the medical bills has to fly home and return to work early.

Scary stuff. Almost as scary as ignoring your true purpose or dying without passion or fulfillment.

So our unconscious is trying to protect us from the unknown and our friends and family are inadvertently holding themselves and us back by doing the same. When we gain the strength to sit back and look at our situation logically we realize it is wrong, and should be changed but we can’t find the right solution to change it.

I’m sorry that’s all the time we have for tonight’s programming. Tune in next week for part 2: Ideas To Change The Deferred Life Plan.

As always, your comments and feedback are loved and appreciated. I’m particularly encouraging everyone to share their thoughts on Part 1 of this article so I can address any questions you have in Part 2.

I work with entrepreneurs to provide them with the confidence, focus and strategies needed to successfully build their first business.

Take Action Today,

Dan Johnston.