Do It Now
Do It Now
Sep 15, 2022
“Momma’, more boo-boo, right now,” Camille squeaked for the fourteenth time in sixty seconds.
As a raw, bundle of emotions, she displays an uncanny sense of urgency about what she wants, and no compunction whatsoever about demanding it repeatedly until she gets it.
As young children, we all had that urgency.
Over time, complacency eases its way into our system, giving rise to a blasé, I’ll do it later, if at all attitude.
We convert procrastination into an art form—as if that’s okay.
It’s not.
Complacency leads to laziness, that in turn leads to compromise and the eventual demise of our dreams.
Let’s consider a few examples.
How many of us step into our bedrooms to be greeted by two or three leftover pieces of clothing from the day before—items that in less than 20 seconds could be hanging in our closet or dumped into a hamper?
How many of us fill our car-door pockets with McDonald’s fries containers, napkins from Subway or a favorite candy wrapper?
What if we trained ourselves to swoop our arm down from the door handle and grab that stuff each time we step out?
Simple solution, no extra time needed.
What about the files, the thank-you notes, the bills, the phone calls, the emails?
If we put them off, they occupy rent-free space in our mind and clutter our brain.
Many of them never get touched.
We need to bring back some child-like urgency and fight this smug, vainglorious disposition for the monster that it is—a major dream killer, dressed in sheep’s clothes.
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal.”
A little overlook here, a forgotten detail there.
Push this back.
Handle that later.
No.
Do what you gotta do, today.
Train yourself with the little things.
They carry over into the husky ones.
When you face that crossroads again—left fork loiter, right fork act—hang a right.
You will notice two things.
First, action equals accomplishment and accomplishment feels good.
Second, it’s easy.
Challenging procrastination is much like riding a bike.
You push off, roll a few feet, keel over.
You pedal again, manage a tad further, fall.
Start, go, crash.
Until it sinks.
Before you know it, you seldom teeter, almost never wreck.
You can ride forever.
Clothes live in closets.
Wrappers need recycling.
Files hang in cabinets.
Pick an area of your life and challenge the “tomorrow” syndrome.
Decide to take immediate charge and begin to build your urgency muscle.
Set yourself a small goal, with defined timeframes.
You’ll find that a deadline can be the ultimate inspiration.
Observe yourself, the inner smile that follows the completion of a task you would normally defer.
Bask in the glow.
Feel the urgency muscle flex.
Before you know it, your dreams will drive the drivel from your mind—you’ll tap into that volcanic childhood energy.
Watch out, world.
You’re back.
“Boo-boo RIGHT NOW, Momma.”
That’s A View From The Ridge…
Best-selling author, Ridgely Goldsborough has written 19 books to date, 5 on emotional intelligence, and has developed a phenomenal program called CustomerConversionFormula.com that you can get absolutely free as a member of the Groove community. Also, visit Mind Types for a FREE and fun quiz that will give you a new perspective!
