Backed Into A Corner?

It has been said by many people that being backed into a corner *forces* you to succeed. I believe even the classic "Art Of War" claims that there is nothing more dangerous than a foe that has no way out but to fight.

And I know some people use this principle as a source of motivation. To give you an example - I am aware of a number of people who, when they wanted to lose weight, paid upfront for a professional photo session in a few months time.

This left them with only 3 options:

1) Lose the weight so they looked great at their photo session
2) Turn up looking overweight and feeling bad
3) Not turn up at all and have wasted the money on the shoot

I have been thinking recently about how we might be able to apply this to our internet marketing activites.

Lets say, for example, that one of your long-term goals is to learn to fly a plane. You could put down a deposit on the lessons, booking them for a few months time, knowing that you *have* to have the money for the difference by then or you lose the deposit.

Or how about starting a long product launch build-up before you've even finished the product? With hundreds of people watching, I'm pretty sure you'd do everything possible to get that product completed in time, wouldn't you?

So, a few questions for you:

1) Do you find being "backed into a corner" motivates you or fills you with dread and so leads to *less* results

2) Do you think backing yourself into a corner deliberately is very smart or very stoopid?

3) Any other ideas of how we might use this concept to motivate ourselves to achieve in our business ventures?

Warm regards,
Richard