I and many others have a problems with procrastination. There are a few ways to win the battle of procrastination but one of the big one is to look at the loss of opportunity when it comes to procrastination.
How Procrastination Hurts Us
One of the problems with procrastination is that when we decide through inaction that we are not going to do something then we feel no sense of loss. Often we can find other busywork to stop us from doing important things and make that procrastination seem not quite as bad.
The real way that procrastination hurts us though is when we have some kind of important opportunity that we miss in life. I am not talking about missed opportunities like buying a winning lottery ticket or finding the love of your life but more commonplace types of opportunities to make change.
Here are some examples of missed opportunities thanks to procrastination
Eating badly or not exercising today – Means that you will not be in a better place physically 1 year from now than you are today
Watching TV today instead of going out and meeting new people – means that you will be STILL watching TV a year from now
I know these are a little harsh and don’t think that I don’t procrastinate either. Or else there would be 10,000 posts on this blog instead of just under 2,000. My procrastination is painful to me everyday. I have missed a lot of opportunities and successes in life because of procrastination and it can really hurt.
How To Kick Off Change Today
Look at the parts of your life where things are going badly for you or at least not as well as you wish they were. Now think back to what you could have done a year ago, the changes you could have made and how much better today would have been if you would have done those things.
Now look at yourself a year from now. If you make those changes today then one year ago you will be a much better place, no matter how good or bad things are today.
Change they say is inevitable. The problem is that we as people do not have to change if we do not want to. Look seriously at yourself today and make those changes. Mark 1 week from now, 1 month from now, 6 months from now, and 1 year from now on calendars and see what you want to be on those days. What action do you need to take today and then tomorrow to reach these goals?
Finally take steps that matter. I am sure I have written this lots of times before but if you have a list of 5 things to do today no matter what then you are one day closer to your goals. If you look back on the last few weeks how many of those days were wasted because you got to busy and did not do those really important little tasks that over time make giant changes.
Remember most huge success a year from now can be traced back to small changes that are made today. Let us all know what changes you are going to make and why.