Do it now.  Not now-now…

There are two things that always happen whenever we get the opportunity to fly down to the Cape to visit Zander and Mariné – I always treat myself to a novel from the bookshop at Oliver Tambo Airport, and I always seem to find inspiration for a Blog theme from one of the impressive, colourful wall wraps in the long hallway of the domestic terminal at Cape Town International Airport.  There’s just always some or other company posting a bold “can’t miss” message or slogan.  This time it was the catchy phrase, in huge red letters, by Coronation Fund: “DO IT NOW. NOT NOW-NOW…

Obviously, I don’t have any funds to invest, but that sentence spoke to me.  And I’m sure it speaks to all of us.  The grand word for the thing we all struggle to beat, is procrastination, and it’s the story of our lives…

I have been a procrastinator long before I even knew what the word meant! Especially at Varsity.  That sudden, unbridled, personal freedom was a disaster for me – When I had to hand in papers, I would do those the night before, until I realized I could just do them through the night, and I did that until I realized, I could actually start them in the early morning on the day they were due… 

When you start a job, and especially when you become a parent, you automatically become less of a procrastinator, simply because you get paid for meeting deadlines, and, when it comes to your kids’ needs, of course,  they have to be satisfied, instantly.  But maybe that’s just where things spiral out of control for us…

We let our calendars make excuses for us – “I’ll start on Monday, next week, next month…We put of decisions, hit the snooze button, skip the gym, or simply don’t complete tasks because we don’t feel like it. 

We say we don’t have time, but we have time for coffee, time to endlessly browse on our phones, time to do online shopping, and time to binge series after series on Netflix.  We convince ourselves that we are too busy, or too tired, that it can wait till tomorrow, and who cares if we put off something, right? 

The American philosopher Don Marquis once said: “Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.”  Gloria Pitzer, the famous cookbook author, once jokingly remarked: “Procrastination is my sin.  It brings me naught but sorrow.  I know that I should stop it.  In fact, I will – tomorrow!”  And Mark Twain wrote: “Never put off till tomorrow what may be done the day after tomorrow as well…”

The sad part is, that regarding our hopes and dreams, we also procrastinate – we spend a lot of time dreaming about our futures – we plan holidays to look forward to, we set goals to achieve, we tell ourselves that on some far-off date, usually years from now, we’ll finally live the lives that we dream of.  We promise ourselves that one day, all of our hard work will pay off, that one day, we’ll finally be happy and content with our lot.

I am a big dreamer myself, and I firmly believe there’s nothing wrong with that – In fact, I think that the world would be a happier place if we all fully embraced our big, wild dreams, and if we committed to them with as much gusto as humanly possible.   But too many of us are putting our dreams off, by saving them up for the future.

And in the meantime, we procrastinate.  And the problem is, there’s no cure for procrastination; it’s an inner battle we have to conquer.  Steven Pressfield calls this inner enemy “resistance”, in his classic, The War of Art.  And this is what he says about it:

“Resistance is always lying and is always full of shit…”  Because the thing is, it takes time to beat procrastination and to develop strategies to do so.  And it’s definitely not magic!

There IS a tiny silver lining around this “now-now” cloud. Contrary to popular belief, procrastination isn’t necessarily a sign of laziness. Phew! In fact, perfectionists often procrastinate because they fear not being able to complete a task perfectly. They would rather delay the task than risk doing it imperfectly.

Okay, it sounds fair when it comes to certain tasks or chores we need to complete, but it’s not an excuse, especially when our goals and dreams are at stake.  Because in the end, all we’re guaranteed is today.  And when we remember this, we realize that we need to start treating those dreams of ours with a little bit more urgency.  We need to stop filing them away for the attention of our future selves and start taking action, immediately.  Now.  Not now-now.

Because, as the saying goes, if not now, then when? If not us, who then?  Your to-do list will always be busy, your diary will always be full.  The expectations of others will always weigh heavy, the path that you’re “supposed” to take will always be well trodden. The circumstances will never be perfect for you to pursue the life of your dreams. There will always, always, always, be something standing in your way.

But where do you start?  By asking yourself this question:  How determined am I really about achieving my life goals?  And what then?  Then, it’s about making a few decisions:  I will not be a slave to my thoughts.  I will exercise my body everyday, because that will put me in great shape, mentally and physically.  And I will believe in myself. As Paulo Coelho wrote: “People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of.” 

It is all well and good for you to sit and read this Blog post and listen to me rant on about this wonderful motivational mindset.  But it’s time to get sh*t done.  Don’t wait for the right time or the right circumstances.  Don’t wait for someone to come into your life and change it.  It’s time for you to make the commitment to take your big dreams out of hiding.  Take them out, shake them off, and start to think about the steps you need to take, in order to make them a reality.

Just start.  Even if it’s almost winter. Even though you’re scared.  Even though you’re not sure how. Take a small step. And then another.  Today. Now.  Not now-now.

Because:

“You may delay, but time will not.” (Benjamin Franklin)

Yours in fitness

Mirna
082 779 0507