“If…”
When pursuing a goal, be it large or small, things are complicated enough. There’s work to be done, usually a lot of it, and we have a limited supply of energy to use each day.
Why make things any harder than they have to be? Why make a goal contingent on unsettled possibilities? “I’ll start saving if I get that raise.” “If I can talk my brother-in-law Bob into helping, I’ll build that deck.”
No. Stop it, right this instant. I mean it.
Before you go any further, and open yourself to the possibility of having your hopes dashed and your goal utterly destroyed, take the time to eliminate those detours. Open that savings account and automate it so that you’re saving a little bit of the pay you’re receiving now. Phone Bob up and ask if he’s available to help you, and if he says ‘no’ then you can start looking for another way to get that deck built.
Look at the “ifs” in your plans as potential roadblocks, things that need to be resolved up front. It’s easier and less stressful to work with a straightforward outline than with one that can dump you into an alternate universe of fail at a moment’s notice.