A few years ago, Lowe’s ran a commercial in which a middle aged man didn’t want to do the yard work and house work on a Saturday. And his future self popped up and admonished him, “if you don’t get to work now you won’t be able to watch football tomorrow.” Startled, he jumped up and finished all the works with products he bought from Lowe’s. The commercial ended with him slumping on a sofa enjoying football Sunday.

I had a chuckle with this commercial but it really carries a deeper meaning to me. In order to get my butt off the hypothetical sofa now, the pain of not getting to do something in the future needs to be higher than the pleasure of not doing something now. 

Tony Robbins has a similar framework but said in a more serious manner. He said along the line of imagine you are 80 year-old and on a rocking chair thinking back about your life. Will you be satisfied with your current level trajectory towards your accomplishments? Are you doing enough so you have no regrets in life when you are at the rocking chair? 

In my 20s, I used this technique to push me through a few tough professional certifications and if you feel that you struggle to get started on your goals, you can try this out. The key is not to let your goals completely consume you and have some other outlets.

At the same time, you can always skip football on Sundays.