When I overcame my procrastinations I was able to: publish 4 books, speak to 1,000 of people on my passions, stop big failings in products (courage to stop action), build a fitness community of passionates, and demonstrate gratitude with my daughter.
When procrastination won … I lost out on several deep and personal relationships (maybe), left a hole in my heart, let ideas stew and become stale, have countless of books unpublished, and had one fewer conversation with a friend I wanted before they died. Ultimately, procrastination alone created my greatest regrets.
Hesitation and pondering are the death to all deals, dreams, and relationships.
It doesn’t matter what you care about in the world, procrastination is a death blow and 100% avoidable. I believe so much in this, I named my health and wellness around the name ‘ natural born killers ‘, killing hesitation and doubt being the intent. I use it both as a reminder and as a catalyst for others — let me share and give you practical insights.
My weaknesses, are we the same?
When I ponder — you know the feeling, you have a vision of something and write notes and notes and notes and notes and notes … and at some point it just becomes this far away concept that you see as impossible.
Or … you see that girl, every day, and have nothing but joy around her. Yet, you never actually connect with her at a personal level and never actually discover if there is a mutual connection. Instead, you just let time go .. and eventually you/she leave the business, and now the fragile roots of a connection are lost. I know, I have done this recently. One girl moved out of state and the other left the company where we worked. Whatever might have been is gone, my choice of inaction was my choice — to walk away.
Ideas are shit. “I thought of Uber” and on and on … we hear this refrain, and have made the same refrain myself. THINKING of an idea, piece of creative, act of kindness, iphone app, or your latest novel without ACTUALLY creating it is a loss to you and the world. At some point, you must act, and there is never a perfect time EXCEPT WHEN THE ENERGY STRIKES.
Act when the energy reveals itself — test and taste the idea
Deals die with time, as in relationships .. it’s not that time itself is the culprit, but instead the value of the joining of two teams begins to shift. Strike while the iron is hot and bring value to each other continually. I have won $$ million dollar deals because I moved at the speed of my customer and met their desires, and lost twice as much by waiting 12 hours to send a simple email.
Always reply, always call back, always close the cycle. Don’t leave things out in the universe as unclear. If you want something to happen — book it, lock it down, and do the work.
Please know, your lack of action is you saying no to the idea, relationship, and life opportunity. You made a choice by hesitating.
Be smart — take action that doesn’t put you on the street. Sometimes iterations and minimum viable products are the best step first to test your idea and innovation. I have seen folks run social media ads for $2–$5k to pressure test an idea. Based on the response the individual was able to determine what book to write, what to title their book, and what product would actually serve customers.
Please above all else — life is short, give that act of kindness, take that trip, share your passion, express your struggles, ask for help, and go ahead… write that book, article, and app.