What To Do When You Miss An Important Deadline

A Story About Priorities, Determination And An Update On My Yoga Teacher Training Progress

The question first came up during an interview for a job in the paste-up department of a newspaper back in the late 90s, just before computers took over and printed news began to disappear altogether. What would I do if I missed a deadline?

With tight daily schedules, when being late by a few minutes could jeopardize an entire days' delivery, getting this seemingly simple question right could make or break my chances at being hired.

It sounded like a trick question—too easy and yet weighted with context that I could only guess about. Should I pretend I never miss deadlines? Or emphatically declare that the smallest hint of a meltdown was hardly a possibility? At the time, those options didn't even occur to me. My answer? Just keep going until the work is done.

They must have liked what I said because I got the job.

Since then I have had my share of deadlines met and deadlines missed and I still believe that if something is worth doing, I'll keep on keeping on until the work is done, no matter what.

More recently, I finished a month-long intensive yoga teacher training this past summer. We were given until the end of 2019 to complete the homework in order to graduate from the program.

It's now January, 2020 and I still have a ways to go. I may have missed my deadline but I will continue working towards my goal regardless of how long it takes because I know some things just take longer for me.

Some people say done is better than perfect. I say sanity is better than done.

So I keep going at my own pace and I make progress in my own time, guided by mind, body and spirit. As a yoga teacher in training, I only hope that my future students have the patience, determination and growing awareness of themselves to do the same.

If you want to know more about my yoga teacher training experience, I wrote about it for Tallahassee Magazine in the January/February issue.

Click here to read the full story of my yoga journey.