Here's why I am deleting this one word from my vocabulary.

PATIENCE: the capacity to accept or tolerate delay.

Patience is a virtue that many of us, in the modern world are lacking. I on the other hand have been using patience as an excuse to procrastinate. My ability to be proactive is literally overshadowed by my intention to be patient with delays and failures.

Which is why I have decided to change this once and forever. For the coming 30 days, well technically 29 days, I am going to be catching myself from falling into the trap of being patient and waiting.

Here are three steps I am taking to become more proactive so that I can use my full potential.

1) Awareness is powerful.

We use words to create perceptions and assumptions. These words in turn become our destiny, and so many of us are unaware of the chatter going on in our minds throughout the day.

The first step I am taking to be more Proactive in my life is to be aware of my self-talk. My mind runs on auto pilot and for one month I am going to be mindful of how I am letting it trick me into procrastinating and delaying the process of taking action.

This step will help me become acutely aware of my fears, doubts and in the process allow me to create a growth mindset.

2) Replace the word Patience with Persistence.

There is magic in words. There is power in self talk.

The word persistence is very similar in meaning to patience but, it has action embedded in it. To be persistent means to continue in spite of difficulty or opposition.

I am confident that this one shift is going to be enough for my mind to understand that we are waging war against procrastination.

3) Clarity is the key.

When I know what needs to be done, I get it done.

Keeping in mind my goals and intentions I will be writing down 8 critical things to be done, in my journal to make my day a success. This idea is inspired from a YouTube video by Peter McKinnon.

Putting pen to paper and writing down our goals for the day not only eliminates distraction, it also makes it much easier to create accountability.

Persisting in the face of uncertainty is not a new concept, in fact many studies have shown that persistence is one of the common trait successful sportsperson have. However it is important for me specifically because I have witnessed my own mind convincing myself to stay off track, because "Good things take time". For example instead of hitting the publish button, after completing my article I'd save the draft for editing only to never look at it again.

It is very important on my part, to clarify that I am in no way or form saying patience is not helpful or that we need to abandon the idea of having patience altogether. It has its benefits and significance in life. In my own life I have saved myself from unnecessary arguments and conflicts due to this simple and powerful trait I have inherited from my father.

There are many things I am looking forward to getting accomplished this month and I am excited to see what major life changes I'd be enjoying as a result of my patience versus persistence experiment.