Need motivation? Set a deadline!

Thanks to our colleagues, clients, students, friends, and friends-of-friends, PTA got the 250 votes (and more!) needed to make it to the second round of the Chase Mission Main Streets grant process.

Encouraged by a few colleagues, we decided to apply for a grant to expand expert mentoring.  We got a late start and had only two weeks before the application deadline to collect the votes required. Compared to a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign, this was a minor recruitment effort (as we just needed votes, not cash), but it was still an all-consuming process.

It seemed like a daunting task at first, but in the end it was a great experience… and we managed to achieve our goal two days ahead of schedule!

Reaching out to our wider community was energizing. It was a great opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, clients and students and engage around a common goal. We were inspired by the support and encouragement for PTA and our mentorship idea.

Though we often curse them… aren’t deadlines great? We had been considering a train-the-trainer mentorship idea for some time but needed an application deadline—and the requirement that we get our community’s votes behind us—to really focus and design a business action plan.

The pressure of a deadline, especially one that is publicly declared and right around the corner is a powerful motivator. Kickstarter has found that campaigns longer than 60 days in length are rarely successful. The urgency of an immediate deadline pushes us to make things happen.

The risk of disappointment or disapproval from others also motivates us to perform. Should you bet your friends that you’ll run through the streets naked if you don’t meet your deadline?  Most people don’t need that level of humiliation or a public contest to act. Sharing a goal with a business advisor, teacher or cohort of small business owners can be a great way to take action. What’s important is finding someone you can be accountable to and who will encourage you to follow through and make something happen.

Though the likelihood of winning a Mission Main Street grant is rather slim (only 12 businesses will win out of what may be 100,000 or more applicants), the process has motivated us to expand our consulting and teaching offerings. Thanks to this contest, we are now developing a mentoring prototype and pilot program for 2014.

What motivates you?