Procrastination is the Enemy of High Achievement

I believe that life is a series of near misses. A lot of what we ascribe to as luck isn’t luck at all. It’s seizing the day and accepting responsibility for your future. It’s seeing what other people don’t see and pursuing that vision—Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks

I don’t proctrastinate. If there’s something that needs to get done today, I do it. Tomorrow has enough on its plate, so why pile on more?

No doubt that if we wait, the list will continue to grow. And every moment more is being added to it: Get work done, pick up the grandkids, pay the bills, buy the birthday present…(feel free to add 100 of your own tasks to this list.)

On the other hand, If we accomplish all of our tasks for the day, it frees our time. We can either take on more—as I often find myself doing—or just relax. If we don’t and just push to-do's to tomorrow or the next day, we find ourselves stressed, worried about the future, and unable to attend to the present moment.

Halloween Costume Hunt in Vancouver

Saeed, my husband, and I traveled to Vancouver recently. We ventured to the city's historic China town. As we window shopped, I saw adorable children’s clothes. I immediately thought, “We’ve got to buy Eva a gift!”

It was still September. Halloween was over a month away. But seeing all of these delightful outfits on display, I thought about Eva, my granddaughter, and how she needed a costume. Nicole, my daughter, could have purchased one herself, but she asked me to buy one if I saw something I liked.

Saeed and I were foreigners, uncertain about our surroundings. We soon found ourselves in an unsafe part of this district.

“Myra, who cares about the outfit, let’s get outta here!” he insisted.

But now, ostensibly on vacation, I had a goal that needed to be accomplished—buy Eva’s costume.

If I weren’t his wife, the mother of his three children, and the grandmother to his grandkids, he may have left me behind. Thankfully he didn’t. I ended up buying Eva a costume that I knew she and Nicole would love.

I was right. When we returned to Los Angeles, I showed Nicole the costume. “Why didn’t you stay there and buy more?” she asked.

I get a tremendous amount of pleasure doing things for people. Combine this with my drive to get things done, and you can understand why I feel that this can be a blessing and a curse.

But there’s no doubt that during these difficult times, my drive is working to my advantage.

Now, more than ever, we’ve got to get all of our tasks accomplished. We’ve got to free up as much time as possible so that we can be motivated, inventive, and create ways to succeed through economic adversity.

♦Digg it   ♦del.icio.us   ♦Add to Technorati Faves