Last week we discussed The Habit of Must Do. This is the habit of creating a daily “Must Do” list each morning and commit to every activity placed on that list being completed prior to the day drawing to a close.

The Habit of Must Do means that nothing on that list is optional. It MUST be done.

It is interesting to note that so many of our previous discussions are centred around the greatest gift bestowed upon each of us – the gift of choice.

We have chatted about the power we have to evaluate all available options and pick the one that best suits us in the moment and yet now we are discussing the awesome power behind the removal of those very choices.

Over the past week I have received numerous calls, texts and emails from people who are strong adherents to The Habit of Must Do. These folks contacted me to report in on how they have experienced huge progress in their pursuit and attainment of goals in their lives by simply beginning each day with the creation of a “Must Do” list.

Each of these folks had a story to tell of one or more occasions when, close to the end of the day as they were preparing for bed they remembered an unaccomplished, incomplete items on their list.

One person spoke of how she dragged herself out of her house at 10:30 PM because she had not completed her “Must Do” of walking 10,000 steps that day.

Another spoke of accessing his office desk top from his home laptop in order to complete an important proposal.

He had been busily working on this document when he was called to an unscheduled meeting which lasted several hours after which he gone home completely forgetting about his proposal.

It was not until he settled down in his den after dinner to watch TV that he remembered the simple rule of a “Must Do” list: if it’s on your “Must Do” list, you must do.

To some, this devotion to something written on a piece of paper or entered into an electronic instrument may seem extreme but it is really all about the importance of understanding that few of our goals are ever realized until we attain the discipline required to do the very things that need to be done repeatedly in order for those goals to be achieved.

Discipline is the act of doing what you know needs to be done when you don’t feel like doing it or of not doing what you know you shouldn’t be doing when that is all you really want to do.

Many of us have set out on a journey of accomplishment – perhaps it has been something personal such as losing weight or something educational such as completing a course or a degree – only to find ourselves off track.

We will all benefit mightily the very instant we commit to the notion of a “Must Do list.”

Few, if any of us fail to achieve our goals because we don’t know what to do, instead we fail to achieve them because we talked ourselves out of doing what we needed to do.

For many of us our capacity for self-delusion is immense and only through an unrelenting, unblinking commitment to something like a “Must Do” list will we have any hope of success in hitting our targets.

If you aren’t convinced then try this: for one week begin each day with a short – 2 to 3 item – “Must Do” list.

Don’t select low-hanging fruit but rather something that will stretch and challenge you. For that week, no matter how tired you are, how discouraged you feel or how badly you DON’T want to complete each task on our list, YOU MUST DO IT and then pay attention to how you feel about your accomplishments each and every day.

My guess is that the new euphoric sense of hyper- accomplishment that you will feel does more than enough to convince you that a “Must Do” list is the best way to ensure that what must get done does, get done.

Come on, it’s only one week out of your entire life.

You can do this.

Let me know.

Let’s make a habit of meeting like this