It’s important to talk about procrastination.
We’ve talked about it at Chatterbox before. I once stated that, “Procrastination is the thief of achievement and rationalization is a ‘one size fits all’ deterrent to success.” It’s true. It’s also true that we all procrastinate; most of us do it very often.
I don’t believe that we put off doing things because we’re just lazy or even prefer to do other things. Certainly, there are always things we’d rather do than clearing out the garage or emptying the attic, but when we really do want to get that project done, why is it we often, even repeatedly, just don’t?
Suddenly, one day, we’re moving and we realize we have six roasting pans that are exactly alike. Sure, they’re in great shape and maybe we think we use them … maybe we do use all of them for different reasons … maybe even all at once, for parties … big parties … the kind of parties we have once every six years. No one likes disposables, but in cases like the roasting pan parade, it may be wise.
Getting around to dealing with our stuff and those jobs we hate is usually far more important than the roasting pan round-up and, yet, we procrastinate; we fail. Sometimes, they’re not even “jobs.” Sometimes, they are things that are actually pleasant or important. Whatever the delay issue is, it seems to be quite common among humans.
So many times have we said, or heard someone say, “You ought to write a book.” At Chatterbox, we’ve talked a few times about how everyone’s life is a book. Some people’s lives are uniquely interesting. When my foster brother became a surgeon, I had beautiful journals handmade for him, just to jot even a brief note about each day. I hope he did it; priceless. Still, every day is priceless to the generations behind us; we talked about that very recently.
If we think about it just for a moment (and I am just as guilty as the next person), procrastination is as deadly to our success as any other negative behavior whether earth shattering or personal. Most of us plan, work and sacrifice many things, in order to achieve our life goals and avoid so many behaviors that do, or could, impede our progress. Yet, we allow procrastination to steal so many of the accomplishments we crave. It may be only small goals, but they are, sometimes, things that affect us on the daily.
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