
FIND A REASON TO START
“You can’t cross a sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” – Rabidranath Tagore How easy it is to get caught up in the process...
“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the ‘Someday I’ll...’ philosophy.” - Denis Waitley
I came across this quote the other day on another writer’s blog post/email and it made me both pissed off and reflective at the same time. Reflective because I knew this quote is powerful and has a specific nuance to it. Pissed off because I was thinking of myself as I read it.
Do you procrastinate?
Do you keep giving yourself a new start date as to when you'll make the decision to change your life for the better?
I fucking do both. All of the time. And it’s annoying.
I’ve always been a procrastinator. My favorite line as a kid when someone asked me to do something was; “I’ll do it tomorrow”. I used that line so often that my own grandmother nicknamed me Manana (Spanish for Tomorrow).
Throughout years of procrastination I have never accomplished anything. It’s only been the times when I have fought through procrastination that I have been able to get myself to where I am now.
Now, as they say in AA meetings, “Admitting that you have a problem is half the battle”.
We all know we have a fucking problem! So what is the solution??
To find the solution, we have to identify the root cause and it's quite simple….
The reason that we procrastinate is because we are afraid of the responsibility that comes with success. In other words… Once you prove to yourself and others that you can do something special, you have now raised the standard for yourself. And that shit is terrifying!
I have spent hours thinking about all of the different aspects in my life where procrastination is a problem. Tackling those aspects would be a step towards becoming the man that I want to become and so, I subconsciously avoid them. Because once I decide to pull my head out my ass and not procrastinate, I prove to myself that I can accomplish these things. But by accomplishing these new things, I can no longer use any excuses to be a lesser version of myself. Making sense now?
We continuously postpone our lives and we’re not the only ones. But the problem with postponing your life is that one day you are going to get to a certain age or situation where death is close, and the only fucking thing that you will think about is how you never did what you wanted to.
You postponed all of your dreams.
You procrastinated your way through life.
And now the only thing you have to look forward to is death.
I write this because I am as guilty of this as anyone. And as I write this post, all I can think about is how I continue to do this over and over again, even though I know it is not the answer. And I know that if I don’t fight through that urge to keep putting off my life, then one day I will lay on my deathbed crying about who I know I could have been.
I have friends and family that depend on me.. You have friends and family that depend on you. So who are we if we do not dedicate our lives to the pursuit of excellence?!
So it’s time to STEP THE FUCK UP.
To no longer fear the expectations and responsibilities associated with success.
The time to make the move is now.
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