What you will do matters, what remains is to do it

Procrastination is the greatest thief not only of our time but of our success.

How often have you thought of a brilliant idea for a business, a job, an innovative tool, anything and then you keep putting it off until you can’t quite remember it anymore. Someone said the greatest labour saving invention of today is “tomorrow”. That may be true, but only when you have mined “today” to its fullest capacity. So that you don’t burn out, you rest and pick it up again tomorrow.

This is very different from procrastinating. I will send that memo after lunch. I will mail that application tomorrow. I will visit my Nan next weekend. I will organize that trip for the children next summer. I will start that business when I have enough money or when the baby starts school. It goes on and on. The list of possible excuses is endless. I had a tough time writing this article. I kept putting it off. Not because I didn’t want to get on with it or because I didn’t have a deadline, but because I wanted to write on so many other topics that I liked better. This particular topic speaks to me and maybe I didn’t want to confront my own self. But I realize that we all need to hear this from time to time.

We are all guilty of it. Do your home work before going out to play. No mum, I’ve got time. Get that job application posted today. Nope, I’ve still got time. Send that business plan to you bank manager now. Nope, I’ve got time. Call that client back now. Nope, I’ve got time. Then American Idol is over and its 11.00 p.m. and you have to dive into bed or you’ll never get up on time for school tomorrow. The deadline for the job application is tomorrow and even if you posted it now, it wouldn’t get there because the mail man just picked up the post at 6. That’s how our time gets stolen and our goals get deferred.

I listened to George Michael singing “Praying for Time” at the finale of American Idol and it really got me thinking. “Do you think we have time?” he asks. Maybe we should all pray for time he admonishes. He should know. He got so cross with Sony in the 1990s he abandoned his career stateside. 17 years after, he is starting to tour the United States. Surely he would know how it feels for time to have gone by you, time you can never reclaim. It just slips through your fingers like fine sand from the beach and where does that leave you? He must have thought at the time, being so young, famous and full of energy, that a few years would not matter. But I’m sure he would rather have been doing what he loves all of those 17 years rather than starting to piece it all together now. Do we think we have time, he asks. God, please give us time.

We cannot reclaim time spent under achieving. Its true God promised to restore the years the locust stole from us. But why do we have to lose all that time to the locust of procrastination and then spend even more time and energy fasting and praying for restoration? We are underachieving. That’s what it is when we have the potentials and we just don’t do anything or fail to do enough with it. Marginal success is just about as good as no success at all. We really ought to focus on getting the best out of ourselves. If we are not doing that which challenges us, we get bored, restive and depressed. Some have opined that we are custodians of our talents and they were given to us not only for our own good but the blessings it will bring to someone else out there.

Sometimes we know what we ought to be doing. We know what new path to explore, what direction we ought to be working towards whether it be in our career, business or even spiritual life. We even know how to get to that dream we have in sight. But we just can’t get ourselves to start on it. Other things fill our time and take our attention. We retain the status quo and moan about what is lacking in our lives when we know the exact way to get there. We may also be afraid to change what works or maybe it isn’t working but it is at least comforting. We will do that other stuff, lead that exiting new life, and follow that new career path tomorrow. I’m still young, I’ve got time. Ask Mr. George Michael before you go off on that tangent.

What you will do matters. You already have a vision of what you want to achieve. You have that dream. This is of great importance. It is what will change the world, at least your world. That’s what you will do someday soon. Well then make that someday today.

All that remains is to do it. Without backing your dreams with action, they remain just that, dreams. Just do it. There is something about life that provides you with the resources for success once you reach out. But I don’t know where to start, you say. Start by writing it down. This helps you think it through. It helps you figure out what resources you would need. List out the ones you have and the ones you don’t. Pray about it. Discuss it with people who can provide answers to your questions. You are on your way to success. Most of all do what you can today. Don’t leave it till tomorrow. Tomorrow will come with its own load of demands on your time and distractions to your mind.

It really matters what you will do, all that remains is to do it.