“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do, then by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines! Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, and discover.” - Mark Twain
We live in an amazingly exiting time in history. There is just so much going on and the sheer amount of options and possibilities that we face every minute of every day can be overwhelming. Out of our fear to not miss out on anything we tend to jump around from one activity to the next trying to get a piece of the action. There are just too many distractions and demands on us in modern society that time just seem to evaporate. We all want more time, thinking that if only we had two more hours every day then life would be so much better. If only we had more time then will I do the things that I want to do; the things that are really important.
It is in this frenzy that one of the biggest criminals flourish. Procrastination is “knowing” that you should do something but you are just not doing it. It is “knowing” that taking action on some task will give you a desired result, but still you just don’t do it. Procrastination ranges from task aversion to complete task evasion even if you know intellectually that you desire an opposite result. Putting off important tasks in favour of unimportant and mundane activities is something that is becoming more prominent in our current lifestyles.
One of the biggest challenges with procrastination is that it makes you feel out of control. When you feel like life is controlling you, you will inevitable face some tough challenges in all areas of your life. You will have problems within yourself that you will find increasingly difficult to handle effectively. Procrastination is like weeds in your garden. At first you barely notice them until you wake up one morning to find that the weeds have taken your garden. Without an effective strategy to face procrastination head on and “kill” it while it’s little, you will eventually have a lot more to deal with.
By developing your ability to take action; to “just do it” you develop your ability to make things happen. Successful people do things a certain way and they have a specific psychology that causes them to act almost instinctively. It is not your conditions that will determine the quality of your life, but rather your decisions about what things mean and what you need to do about it. Procrastinating and postponing will leave you stranded in a life of mediocrity where you are not all that you can be. A life where you are not truly fulfilled.
Whether you are procrastinating on big life decisions or on small annoying tasks, there is a strategy that will help you to eliminate procrastination. By learning and adopting the right psychology you will empower yourself to make the necessary changes. By discovering the cause of your behaviour you can change it and tap into your unconscious system that controls all your automatic “responses.” (in)action is not a “passive read”, but an action guide that not only tells you what to do, but gets you to do what you know. With a variety of exercises and action steps you are guided every step of the way to becoming more decisive and action-minded. Talk is cheap and only action gets rewarded.
