Procrastination

Okay, it's been put off for long enough. Today we're gonna talk about procrastination. See what I did there? Why put off for later what can be put off forever?

But seriously, you probably do  not realize just how poisonous procrastination is to your goals.Life is quite often hectic and confusing. We are so busy dealing with things on a continuous basis that when a chance to stop and take a breather arrives we jump all over it. And there is nothing wrong with that.

But when some opportunity to advance your dreams comes up don't put it off until later. I like to say procrastination procreates.Because once you put a thing off for the first time you have set a
 precedent. After all, putting it off once was alright. Your life isn't likely to slow down and wait for you to catch up on the things you want to do. So each time that thing comes up in the future you are just as likely to be as busy and/or as tired as you were when it came up the first time.  So, once you set that precedent you are just as likely to keep making excuses every time it comes up. What you put off once you will probably never do unless forced to by some outside force.

Take a couple of minutes and think about your life and you will realize that I am right.Think about all the things that you want to do, things that you should do. Think about all the things that never get done, things that if you had started them when the idea first occurred to you would be done by now. Think about how you could be enjoying the fruits of past labor, rather than dreading the work that you know is ahead of you.

When you put off something that is supposedly important to you by saying "oh i'll do that when I get the money " what you are really saying is that that thing is not important enough to you for you to either create the money for it or find it within your budget.

When you put off something that is supposedly important to you by saying "oh i'll do that when I get the time " what you are really saying is that that thing is not important enough to you for you to make the time to get it done.

When you do this, you are playing the victim. You are saying that if life would just fall into this exact certain pattern then you will be able to to the things that you want. You can get what you want out of life. But you have to be willing to work for it. And if the thing you are claiming that you want isn't worth risking some extra time or money on, then it isn't important to you, despite what you may say or think to the contrary.

Stop waiting for the perfect time or circumstance. There isn't going to be one. Life doesn't work that way and is perfectly willing to pass you by. It will go on whether you participate or not. You get stop making excuses and start making time for the things that are important to you. Or accept responsibility for failing to reach your goals.

Weakness is awesome

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is going to school to become a mechanic. He was telling me about a part of the class that he was kind of struggling with. He was looking at this thing that was giving him trouble and seeing it as something that could make his next couple of weeks in the class rather difficult.

My reaction at first confused him. I saw what he was saying as an awesome opportunity rather than an obstacle. Most of the things he had been learning up until this point were things he already knew or had at least a passing familiarity with. But this "new" thing will increase his knowledge base and expand his mind. Once he conquers it he will have additional confidence in his abilities.

That is not what makes this thing so great though. What makes it great, is that he is now aware that he is not familiar with or good at this particular thing. In short it is a weakness. And the awesome thing about that is, once you are aware of a weakness you can annihilate it. While you are unaware of it, you can do nothing about it.

People tend to look at life kind of backwards. We are often only happy when things are running smoothly and flip out when things stop going according to the plan. If everything in life always went smoothly and according to plan we would never develop the tools to handle problems. It is the obstacles and challenges we meet on the road that offer us the ability to improve and grow. Instead of getting frustrated or angry,we should celebrate when difficulties occur.

A person who goes through life without any obstacles has no real idea of what they are good or bad at. If no tests of your abilities ever occur, there are no results to look at and compare how you did with how you think you should have done. If there is no metric for comparison, how do you know whether to be satisfied with what you can or can not do?

On the contrary when something happens to show a weakness, limitation, or lack of knowledge on your part, it is a blessing. It gives you the opportunity to check in with how you feel about that thing. If not knowing or being good at that thing does not bother you then nothing need be done. If it does however, then you have a jumping off point for change. Knowing that you are not good at a thing in the present provides everything you need to get started being good at that thing in the future.

If the lack is simply in knowledge, a quick trip to the library or internet can fix that for you. If it is a thing that you are not good at doing, you can watch others do that thing and get advice from those who are successful at it. And then on your own you can practice,practice practice. If your weakness is a habit that you have do not attempt to quit the habit. Simply replace it with another one.

Instead of getting upset at other people when they point out a weakness that you may have, sincerely and enthusiastically thank them. One they are doing you a great service and two it will provide you the opportunity to show them how great it is to have weaknesses.