“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” – Martin Luther King Jr

Procrastination is described as a thief of time. I believe it does not only steal your time, it steals your wealth. So why do we procrastinate? It depends mostly on the person doing the procrastinating. For some, it’s about fear of failure, or success. Yet, others do it for the thrills in creating a time crunch.

When we put things off, we are secretly avoiding to make a decision, and in so doing, we avoid taking responsibility for our choices. But the simple truth is, whether we make a decision or not, we will be responsible for the outcomes of our decisions or our decision not to decide now.

Another truth we know and usually feel is that, even if you’re an addicted procrastinator, you probably know deep with you that your life would be easier and more satisfying if you could make yourself get things done right away, instead of pushing it into the future –  a future you cannot predict and guarantee the happenings thereof. Pushing stuff into future schedules, reduces what you can do in future, as you limit the time available for other tasks.

“A year from now you may wish you had started today” – Karen Lamb

This statement is so true, in my life. Perhaps, yours too. It is easier to succumb to your body telling you you need to back off a bit and think more about what you are about to do. The fact that life cannot be infinite, and the probability that it will be much shorter than nature allows, ought to awaken every man to actively execute whatever he desires to perform – borrowed excerpt of a Samuel Johnson quote.

Wealth creation is partly a function of industry. All things being equal the hardworking man and the smartworking are those who make wealth, not the lazy hands. You have to work to build wealth. Even billionaires still work. They get things done, not fantasize about their dreams and aspirations. It is better to start and fail or start and be cut off. At least you tried. You died trying and fighting for something worth living for.

Actual result is more fulfilling than fantasizing about your aspirations and what the results would look like. The gap between the two is getting things done, not procrastinating.

There are times when you procrastinate for good reasons. “I try to procrastinate , if I can, productively, like I’ll work on something else as procrastination. Or I take a walk. Because often I find, if you get out, more things come to you” – Noah Baumbach. This is acceptable. In the strictest sense, getting things done is what matters, rather than idling. Rescheduling tasks in order to make a complete sense and prudent use of resources is acceptable, as long as you work towards the greater goal.

In today’s world, I do not agree with Denis Waitley that ‘procrastination is the fear of success’. Everyone’s dream is to succeed, though their actions and/or inactions are most of the time not found in line with the dreams.

“There’s nothing wrong with procrastination. Or is there? I’ll leave it to you to decide, but only if you have the time”. – Craig Brown.