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End Procrastination Now
By Kathy Gates
How long did it take you to realize the benefits of removing a
splitter right away from your finger? As a child, removing the
splinter seemed like an awful thing to do, but experience
finally taught us that if we leave it alone, it will only get
infected, get worse, and be a whole lot harder to deal with.
Have you learned this lesson yet?
Allowing, even courting delay in your life is a huge roadblock
between you and your goals. When you respond to a problem,
situation, request, task, etc. without delay, you minimize the
action and pain involved.
Think again about the splinter. Consider it as a metaphor to
any problem or situation that you need to deal with, that
needs change. At first the ‘splinter’ catches your attention,
with just an ouch. But, if you ignore it, it will get sore. If
you continue to ignore it, it will swell and become painful.
If you continue to ignore it, or just put a Band-Aid on it
instead of getting to the source (the splinter), it may become
so infected that it could actually threaten your health. All
from a tiny splinter, or any tiny problem, that you chose to
ignore.
Need for ACTION shows up like this.
- Inkling, Hint or Ouch (splinter). For example, the car
insurance bill is due every six months. A few months ahead
you begin to think “I should set aside some money to pay
that car insurance which is due in December.
- Message: The bill arrives and you don’t have the money
to pay it. So, you ignore the bill.
- Problem: A late notice arrives, which includes late
fees. It’s Christmas time, and you just don’t have the extra
money right now. So, you ignore the bill.
- Crisis: Your insurance is cancelled, and you’ll have to
put out a lot more to get a new insurance company to take
you.
Each one of these is harder and harder to deal with. Each
one of these costs you more energy, time, money, and even part
of your spirit.
When you allow delay to control your life, everybody and
everything else is in charge of your life. You’re not running
your life anymore. Your actions, your thoughts, your behavior,
your money, your energy will be controlled by an external
deadline.
Instead, when a problem is approached from an “eliminate
delay” standpoint, sometimes only a small step is necessary to
solve the problem or to avoid the problem altogether. An early
response will usually allow time for making an informed
decision based on choice, instead of ’have to’.
When you begin to eliminate delay from your life, you are able
to respond to hints or inklings in a way that works for you,
instead of having to respond in a way that is dictated by
others.
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