When?

Procrastination is undoubtedly one of the biggest success killers in life. You'd be in an extreme minority of people worldwide if you haven't delayed making an important decision, or put off certain tasks for the next day, or for a later time, at various times in your life. Whether it be a case of setting back a task, because it's mundane, boring, complicated, or energy sapping, or be it a decision that we are afraid to proceed with, because we fear the worst result and we want more convincing, the vast majority of us believe delaying such tasks and decisions is what's best for us. How wrong we are! So firstly, there are decisions. Now, for starters, we actually use procrastination as a form of tactic, when it comes to people's invitations or offers. Inside ourselves, we know full well that we aren't really interested in certain invitations and offers, or perhaps it's something that we couldn't be bothered engaging in, but rather than flat out saying no, we are guilty of leaving that invitee with an inconclusive response. It's the good old "I'll think about it", or "I'll let you know", or "Not now, but maybe in the future", sort of responses. We do it because we feel rude in saying no, when the reality is, we are actually being rude by not being truthful in the first place. It's disrespectful to the other party, and not a response we should be proud of. There's nothing wrong with being honest and forthright.

Being dishonest with others is bad enough, when it comes to procrastination with decisions, but it's far worse to be dishonest with ourselves. It's actually quite shameful and embarrassing when we try and convince ourselves to believe that we will give something a crack in the near future, knowing full well that we most likely wont. A decision to proceed with something in the future, isn't in fact a decision made at all, and the reason being is there is no subsequent action to confirm it as being a decision. I could say that I am going to buy a new car soon, but they are just words. Until, and unless, I actually buy that car, I have not actually made the decision to buy one at all. We can say anything we like about what we may intend to do, or would like to do, but unless there are actions that support fulfilling these decisions, they aren't decisions at all. When I think about humans, and their inability to fulfill decisions, I straight away think of the decisions people supposedly make in pursuing their personal goals. If a unique opportunity is presented to us, or be it that we just have plans to pursue our goals, the moment we become aware of the steps we need to take, and the actions we need to execute, we become hesitant. Why? Because they involve risk, they involve commitment, they involve investment, they involve hard work, and they involve dedication. It's like, we want the prize, but we don't want to have to do much, or anything, to get it, so we get turned off. It's that weighing everything up scenario that runs through our head, as we are so desperate to achieve our goals and create a better life for ourselves, but do we really want to do what's needed to achieve them? So what do we do? We choose to think about it.

Now it's all well and good if we truly went off to consider our options, and have a good think about what we are going to do, as no one wants to rush into a bad opportunity, or something we can't truly commit to. The thing is, the majority of us don't spend the time assessing our options at all, but instead, we just simply slip back into our everyday life, and allow the opportunity to pass us by. It's those same responses we tell ourselves, as we do with others. "Now is not the right time, but maybe in the near future", or "I'll think about it", or "I'll do it soon", yet for most of us, we never end up doing it at all. We lie to ourselves. If we were dead set determined to pursue and achieve our goals, we would make a forthright decision, and we would make it immediately. Even when we genuinely opt to consider the opportunity or action plan, we decide promptly, within a couple of days at the most. Let's be honest here, if we don't make the decision to proceed with something, but choose to ponder over the options, only to not confirm our decision at all, we in fact do confirm that we are not proceeding. Fact! Make your decisions promptly, and if you choose to consider your options first, then do so, but confirm a decision either way, within a couple of days.

Then comes procrastination regarding actions. One of the most common habits we have as humans, is we tend to put the least enjoyable, and most tedious actions, last on our list. If these actions are unavoidable, then we delay them as long as possible, until we absolutely have to do them. This sort of habit starts back in our school days, as many of us chose to leave completing assignments and projects until the last minute. Why? Because there were other more enjoyable things to be doing in our time. This habit rarely changes into adulthood. Most people say they are just too busy, or they don't have the time to invest into pursuing their goals, but they will do so in the future, however this is utter crap. People do have the time to work on the actions in pursuit of their goal, but they continually delay them. Why? Again, because they can think of more enjoyable things to be doing with their time, such as watching television, catching up with friends, or browsing through social media. These are all more attractive and easier options than some of the boring, mundane, and energy consuming actions, that are required to achieve their goals. Still, it always comes back to "I'll get around to it soon", but that soon often becomes never. Delaying the actions that are required to achieve our goals, and create success, only means we are delaying achieving these goals and the success themselves.

Procrastination is killing our future and our happiness. Not all the decisions we make, and actions we take, are going to result in success. In fact, when it comes to the pursuit of any life enhancing and transforming goals, so many of the decisions and actions we make along the way, will fail. We are fearful of failing, even though failure is only absolute when we succumb to it. That fear of failure causes us to delay making decisions, and engage in the relevant actions, but if we don't make these decisions, and start executing these actions now, then when? When are we honestly going to make a decision, and fulfil that decision through action? With our future, our happiness, and our success, on the line, one would think that making firm and bold decisions, supported by the relevant actions, would be a given, but clearly, many people don't seem to value the importance of such factors in their life. Don't be one of those people! Take risks, make decisions, take action, and don't delay! Prove that your future and your goals really are worth fighting for! When? Now!

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