Just do it

I have actually been thinking about starting a blog....I had a vision, a dream, a fantasy of creating a new world for myself online....where I could express and share my thoughts and knowledge and ideas...and have people I had never met before (and may never meet) be inspired....or identify with my experience and share their own thoughts and ideas with me...

That was....ehm....about four to five years ago now...

You see, I have come to the reality of the fact that I am an avid procrastinator. I delay things that I know must surely be done to a later time. It starts most times with delaying the time I wake up by pushing the alarm snooze button...or just canceling the alarm altogether. Sometimes, I actually believe I can drive a distance which should normally take...at the least... 17 mins...in less than 10 mins. It ends most days with my delaying my sleep time...just randomly searching the internet for whatever...

Procrastination....I have realized...is a very very dangerous thing. It is very dangerous because it can be so subtle...it is so easy to deny. For example, you have an assignment to do. You know it is due in two weeks. You don't understand the main topic...much less the questions...but you know it represents 20% of your grade. It's a monday. You say...well, I have to do this and that which is more important...and that and this...the weekend will be the perfect time to start it. The weekend comes and then you realize you have chores to do, people to see, places to go...you delay it again. One week gone. The next week, same thing...and then you find yourself on a sunday night before the due date, having a sleepless night working on an assignment you don't know the head or tail about.

Another common example is in loosing weight. Hello! A lot of us are guilty about this one. You know you want to loose that weight. Those extra pounds are just weighing you down. You know it, you feel it. You say..."I have to loose weight. I will start running first thing tommorrow". Tommorrow comes and you press that snooze button and before you know it, it's time for work. You move it to the next day..and the next...and the next...and then two years later, you are even more heavy!
It is because of this single reason that people do not do the best they know they can do and end up settling for less because of this evil thing called procrastination. Dangerous, wouldn't you say?

One factor of procrastination that is often excluded when people talk about it is the search of the impossible, unfathomable, unattainable thing called "perfect timing". There is no such thing as perfect timing. For example, you are newly married and you are considering if you should go ahead and get that online degree...then you say..."Ah, I don't have the time...I need to concentrate on my hubby and me...on my job...on conceiving..on my business...I will start when I am pregnant and get some months off..." Then you get pregnant, and you feel all oozy and sick and nauseous....and all you can do...is all you can do! You move it to after the baby....then baby comes and you realize..."oh hell...this is a lot of work!" and you move it to when baby can walk...and then baby walks around, talks a lot and well...destroys a lot..and you say "oh dear, when baby grows and can take care of itself..." and then baby grows but then you get pregnant again and the whole cycle starts again....before you know it, 10 years have gone by. (Now I am a mother of two and my babies are more precious than any degree in the world...but you get what I mean?...)


My point is there is no perfect timing. You want to start something? Start it now. Time waits for no man. Start it now. Stop procrastining, get organized and keep on moving.

Another key factor which leads to procrastination is depression. Yes, yes the big D word. You feel down, you feel blue, you feel out, you feel like a failure...you don't want to go on anymore...and then..you just don't go on anymore! You find yourself at a standstill...exactly where you were four years ago, is where you are today. And you feel like shit for that. Depression is a mind thing....no one can help you better than yourself. It helps to share but you have to be the one to get out of it...and move on. As my cousin's lovely wife would say it...I have worn that t-shirt before. I think many many people have worn that t-shirt more than you can imagine and ripped it apart and moved on! You need to do the same to get going.

Life is a journey; it never ends until life ends. You have to keep on moving. You have great ideas, great lyrics, great dreams...go ahead and work on them...one by one, step by step. Never underestimate the power of small beginnings. You may fail, but that is fine, learn and move on.

So...let us stop putting that clock on snooze and looking for excuses on why we are not where we want to be...let us work on ourselves...let us do this... just do it.