The law of diminishing intent

Have you ever heard of the law of diminishing intent? I asked this question on social media last week, and while I received feedback from a few, I didn't hear back from many -- which tells me what I already knew: most don't know what it is, although most are living it out every day.

I like the way leadership expert John C. Maxwell expresses it, summing it up this way: "The longer you wait to do something you should do now, the greater the odds that you will never actually do it." That is the law of diminishing intent. It is, no doubt, why Maxwell encourages people to do something he himself did during a period of his life: He woke up each day, sat on the side of his bed and said, "Do it now" 50 times. Before bed, he said it 50 more times: "Do it now."

I took him up on his challenge several months ago and did the same. Forget about actually doing whatever it was; just following through with saying it took effort. Add "now" to the mix, and you've really got your hands full.

So why the focus on the law of diminishing intent? As a person who brings leadership training to businesses, organizations and individuals, as a person who deals with it myself, I regularly see the law play out. It's as sure as gravity. I cannot even count the times something that went up into our minds dropped at our feet. Why? The law of diminishing intent.

The law of the harvest says we reap what we sow. Well, the reverse is also true: We do not reap what we do not sow. And the law of diminishing intent reveals that if we do not sow now, we will most likely not sow at all.

In our delusion or best intentions, we believe the longer we contemplate, get all the facts, save up, get more time -- as if we will ever have more than 24 hours in a day (I did have a 26-hour day once when traveling to a different time zone on the day that daylight savings ended, but you get my point!) -- we will eventually do the thing we need to do. The truth I've learned from observing people and, hey, just dealing with myself, is that more time to think it through does not make us more likely to do it. It makes us less likely to do it.

I cannot tell you the times I've heard people say they are interested in something being offered. "Keep me in mind for the next time." Some fail to realize that this is "the next time." Money is often their reason. Time is another reason. My general philosophy is that with rare exceptions, people find both the money and time to do what they value. This is not the case for everyone, of course. I feel the need to throw that disclaimer out there, lest someone get offended. If it doesn't apply to you, throw it over your shoulders.

It does apply, however, to many of us.

Here's the truth: "The next time," most of us will be busier, more in need of finances, and more likely not to do what we know we should do. Our lives are not getting less busy, folks; most of us are getting busier -- investing time and money in what we value, much of it frivolous, and not investing in what we say we value but clearly do not. And instead of admitting, "Hey, I'm just not interested in putting forth what it takes to get what I need," we say, "I'll do it 'the next time.'"

This is why businesses give "killer offers" with what appears to be outrageous deadlines. We view these deals with outrage because, you know, "I'd jump in if I had more time to think about it." No, you wouldn't. With rare exceptions, if you don't act now, you're less likely to act at all.

I've been guilty myself. Take trying to get back into shape. The task seems daunting. I've dropped the ball many times. So just a couple of weeks ago, I had to admit to myself what I was already living out -- that if I didn't take a step now, I wasn't going to. So I said to myself, "Start now right where you are." It's back to the drawing board and back to the trainer." I can't promise what the results will be, but I do know what would not be if I didn't start. So I had to "do it now" because my life is about as busy as it gets, and it's not getting any less busy. It's early in the process, but I started -- again.

Whatever it is we may have looming, we won't have more time by next month, and our bills will not decrease by next month, either. And we're probably not going to be any more inspired by next month. The opposite is likely to be true, actually.

The bottom line is that the law of diminishing intent is real and reveals that we lie to ourselves every day by saying, "Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow," all the while somehow forgetting the age-old adage that tomorrow is not promised, and, really, never comes. Once you get where you think tomorrow lives, it's today, and we are conditioned not to do anything today because ... well, "the next time." What is it we're putting off? The best scenario is to slay the delay, but if we're not ready to heed the law of diminishing intent, at least we should be honest about it.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member.