![\"GRBJ0732\"](\"http:\/\/auchtoon.2gtech.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/GRBJ07322.gif\" "\\"GRBJ0732\\"")
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Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal<\/em>, November 2, 2009<\/p>\n You know, sometimes it isn\u2019t so much the actual failure that feels bad — it\u2019s the knowing that you set yourself up for the failure that\u2019s painful. I do this to myself all the time. Every week I make an impossibly long task list for myself, and by Friday late-morning (right around now in fact) it becomes eminently clear that I have no hope of crossing off half of them. Then I compound that by Friday late-morning (right around now) making a similarly impossible list of weekend tasks. No doubt that when Monday rolls around many tasks will remain untouched. And I can tell you, if that means that I\u2019m scraping frost off my windshield at 5:45AM because I didn\u2019t make room in the garage for my car, reality will = unhappiness. Cold, painful reality. Gotta go. I have a long list of things not to get to this afternoon\u2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, November 2, 2009 You know, sometimes it isn\u2019t so much the actual failure that feels bad — it\u2019s the knowing that you set yourself up for the failure that\u2019s painful. I do this to myself all the time. Every week I make an impossibly long task list […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grand-rapids-business-journal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/auchtoon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nIn my defense, I make these lists mostly knowing I have no hope of completing them — my first goal is not to forget anything. So if I make a note to update my blog\u2019s interface or replace the uneven bricks in the front walk, it\u2019s stressful knowing that I very likely won\u2019t do it, but at least I\u2019m keeping track of it. I never call my lists \u201cMy Holy Covenant of to Be Completed Tasks\u201d or \u201cResolutely Affirmed Guarantee of Accomplishments I Will Achieve Successfully\u201d or \u201cThe Highest Order of Soon Realized Commitments I Humbly and with Much Fidelity Pledge\u2026\u201d well, you get the idea. I make no promise.
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\nSo, a few years ago when the State of Michigan set up a scholarship for college students to receive $4000 toward their education, it was a good idea. And when funding for this program was cut because of the current budget crisis, that was cold, painful reality. The bad idea was naming it the Michigan Promise Scholarship<\/a>, because that was just setting itself up for failure.<\/p>\n