When we were in school, most of us did our homework.

Why?

Because someone said we had to.  So we did it.  Pretty simple.

Maybe you knew your homework would factor into your grade, which would factor into what college you went to, and so on . . . but basically, you did it because someone told you to do it, and gave you a day when it was due.

Every day I hear people talk about how they haven’t finished writing a script, or how they haven’t finished editing their film, or a stand-up routine, or a song, and so on.

And I wonder . . . if that script, or film or stand-up routine was homework . . . would they have finished it?

I’d bet yes.

And when so much of success is just finishing what you’re working on, or executing that great idea that you’ve been kicking around for years, there has got to be a way to create a systematic approach to help you do just that.

That’s why I’m an advocating an Adult Homework System . . . or AHS.

Here’s how it works:

• Find yourself a friend, a teacher, a shrink, or even a random person online.
• Describe what you want to accomplish (complete a script, a song, or whatever).
• Make that person give you your homework with a due date.
• Do it in the allotted time.
• Rinse and repeat.

Make sense?

I’d bet you finish what you’re working on a lot faster (and probably with even better results).  (There’s probably an idea for a great social networking website here, where people sign up to be “teachers” or “students” and are randomly assigned to one another, and the teachers help the students’ dreams come true.)

It’s hard to motivate yourself.  That’s why the educational system exists (and why it costs so much freakin’ money).

And there is nothing wrong with asking for a little help to keep you on track.

Because homework isn’t just for kids.

It’s for students.

And life is about learning every single day.