Gary North

"At what price?"

That is the question. It is a major barrier to success.

Count the cost (Luke 14:28-30).

People want all sorts of things. The list is as long as a person has time to make it. It goes on and on.

The problem is, the person cannot prioritize. Why not? Because of the give-and-take, back-and-forth relationship of goal and price. If he knew what is was willing to pay, he could prioritize the list. But because he isn't sure what the payoff will be, he will not put a price tag on anything.

He is stuck in an endless loop.

I say, "cut to the chase." Put a price tag on the thing that sounds as though it might be the best. Then think through what the payoff could be. Then see if it's worth committing to.

Getting out of debt is a good goal. Achieving something great that cannot be achieved if you are in debt is even greater.

You need to set goals. I have created a department on this: Goal-setting.

In other words, start with the price; then go to the project. Why? Because of procrastination. If you sit around trying to assess the payoff, you will not get started. You can't know the payoff. What you know is that 80% of projects fail (Pareto's law). So, how much are you willing to commit to a new project with an 80% likelihood of failure?

If you never commit, attrition will keep you falling behind. You must commit just to stay even. You must commit more to get ahead.

The major attrition factor is your ticking clock.

It's better to commit to a budget, begin the project, and see it fail than to sit, paralyzed. Paralysis guarantees failure.

Commit to getting out of debt. But count the cost beforehand. This will not be easy. It may take months. It may take years. But it can be done. Is it worth doing?

At what price?