YOU COULD. YOU SHOULD. BUT DON’T?
You could do it. You should do it, but you don’t do it.
That’s a formula for disaster.
JIM ROHN
You could take action. You should take action. But you don’t take
action. Why is that?
One of the things individuals and organizations do which severely hampers
our results is to delay doing something. Procrastination is the “death
rattle” to results. We delay taking action, or we never quite finish what we
start. We get distracted and caught up in other things. We might even make
excuses for why we can’t or don’t take action or complete what we start.
There are two types of procrastination.
The first type of procrastination is behavioral. This is
characterized by distraction and avoidance. According to Joseph Ferrari,
author of Procrastination and Task Avoidance, procrastinators often delay
projects so they’ll have an excuse if they don’t do well. Ferrari says,
“Procrastinators view their self-worth as based solely on ability at a task. So
their logic says, “If I never finish the task, you can never judge my ability.”
Delaying projects also offers procrastinators a handy excuse if they
don’t do well. “They’d rather create the impression that they lacked effort
than ability,” says Ferrari. “They can blame it on the lack of time.”20
In fact, they will often handicap themselves to guarantee an excuse if
they perform poorly.
The second type of procrastination is decisional. This is the pattern
of postponing a decision when dealing with conflicts and choices. People
with high decisional procrastination are considered perfectionists. That’s
a smoke screen. They often seek perfection because it gives them an
excuse to take longer to make decisions.
A fascinating explanation of procrastination comes from Clarry Lay,
PhD, a professor of psychology at York University in Toronto and creator
of the General Procrastination Scale. Lay believes that procrastinators
simply have a different level of conscientiousness than most people.
Put simply: They think and act in terms of “wishes and dreams” while
non-procrastinators focus on “oughts and obligations,” he says. They are
also neurotically disorganized in their thinking, he says, making them
forgetful and less likely to plan well.20
Regardless of the cause, the results are the same – weak! You simply
can’t procrastinate and expect superior results.
Furthermore, a person who procrastinates eventually is overcome by
stress and guilt. The longer you put off doing something, the bigger that
thing becomes in your mind. And it doesn’t go away; it keeps coming
back. As soon as the first deadline is missed, the project or goal no longer
has integrity. It’s a lesser goal with diminished expectations. On the other
hand, since mastery is the steady improvement over time, your performance
and results can only get better by making the best decision possible
for right now. Procrastination says, “I’ll do tomorrow.” Mastery says, “I’ll
do it right now to the best of my ability.”
You have two choices:
1. Procrastination and Excuses, which lead to Mediocrity
2. Discipline and Execution, which lead to Mastery
YOU COULD. YOU SHOULD. AND YOU DID!
You’ve got to bring it to get it!
MAMA
What can you do to move from Procrastination to Implementation?
1. Break up the chunks.
Oftentimes procrastination results from trying to work
with too big a chunk. Your goal is too big, maybe even overwhelming.
If you want to lose 50 pounds for example, start by
focusing on losing 10 pounds. Once you’ve achieved that goal,
then set your sights on the next 10 pounds. If you’re aiming to
work on the treadmill for an hour each day, start by doing it for
10 minutes. Action is simply part of a process.
2. Take action now.
Imperfect action today is better than perfect tomorrow. Once
you take the first step, you’ll find the second and third step will
come more easily. You’ll begin developing a pattern, a habit, a
discipline that will help you achieve successively larger goals.
3. Leverage the power of NOW.
Now. Own. Won! The message of these interchangeable words
is take action now, take ownership for results now and you can
expect to win more and lose less.
Champions do daily what amateurs do occasionally.
___________________________
20. The Danger in Delay, David Jacobson, WebMD, November 27, 2000
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