Summary: <br> Starting something new that matters is awesome and awful. It's exhilarating and excruciating. As the late Jim Rohn would have put it, “It's the challenge that makes the experience.”<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="https://www.jeffsanders.com/the-5-am-miracle-is-going-pro-i-just-signed-a-book-contract/">← Previous Episode</a><br> <a href="https://www.jeffsanders.com/how-to-make-time-for-your-side-hustle-starting-a-business-edition/">Next Episode →</a><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <a href="https://www.jeffsanders.com/five-lessons-learned-when-starting-something-new-and-important/" title="5 Lessons Learned"></a>Photo Credit: <a style="color: #808080;" href="https://www.jeffsanders.com" target="_blank">Jeff Sanders</a><br> A month ago I signed <a href="https://www.jeffsanders.com/the-5-am-miracle-is-going-pro-i-just-signed-a-book-contract/" title="The 5 AM Miracle is Going Pro" target="_blank">my first book contract</a> and my life has flipped upside down in more ways than one. As I discussed in <a href="https://www.jeffsanders.com/088-fewer-goals-and-better-results-with-a-12-week-year-podcast/" title="#088: Fewer Goals and Better Results with a 12-Week Year [Podcast]" target="_blank">one of my latest podcast episodes</a>, last month was unreal in its complications and its simultaneous abundance of opportunities.<br> We all want more, but in the same breathe we dread the moment it arrives because we have no idea how to respond. It's easy to make assumptions and predictions about our own future behavior, but when the tables turn and you get what you asked for . . . watch out.<br> It's about to get real.<br> Dreaming of a New Day<br> When we dream of new opportunities we rarely dream about the work it takes in the moment. We dream about going to college, getting married, buying our first house, signing out first book contract, holding our first child, or getting that long awaited (and highly deserved) promotion.<br> What we don't dream about are the late nights, the sweaty palms, and the ever-increasing blood pressure. What happens when we get what we ask for? We get it all — the good, the bad, and the perceivably-unmanageable chaos of everything we never expected.<br> As I have recently launched myself headfirst into a new book I have also learned a few critical lessons in goal achievement and life balance.<br> It didn't take long. I have only been working on the book for a few weeks and already my daily schedule has transformed into a new monster I'm still trying to tame.<br> Here are five lessons that have become abundantly clear in the wake of my new adventure.<br> 1. Previously Important Goals are No Longer Important<br> In January I was totally immersed in training for a 50-mile ultramarathon, one of my life's bucket list goals. I was serious about it — committed. I was invested in the process — totally sold.<br> I exercised 48 days in a row in the beginning of 2015 and created the most effective training schedule I have ever had. But (and this is big), I didn't plan for the unforeseen.<br> I didn't expect the unexpected or plan for my schedule to to be thrown out the window. Sure, I planned for hiccups, mistakes, and days when I just didn't feel like running.<br> But, I didn't plan to nearly eradicate running (my most important goal of the year) for a book (my now most important goal of the year).<br> In the matter of a few days I began focusing all of my efforts on the book. I knew I was missing workouts but I really didn't care. My previously important goals for the year were trumped by a new and highly important endeavor. <br> <br> Lesson learned: when life hands you an opportunity that could transform your life, be willing to drop everything and run as fast as you can.<br> <br> 2. Every Day Matters<br> I have mentioned the <a href="http://jamesclear.com/stop-procrastinating-seinfeld-strategy" title="Seinfeld Strat..."></a>
