Just Do It: Avoiding Procrastination

At a recent speech competition I attended I heard a speaker remind us that procrastination achieves nothing. Why put off something you want to do, simply because someone else says you can’t or shouldn’t. Why limit your experiences because you don’t believe in yourself. The speaker’s simple message was, just do it.

I’m sure we can all think of things we wanted to do, but never got around to. The logical side of us listens to our inner voice and the outwardly vocal voice of others. We hear all sorts of reasons why we shouldn’t do whatever it is we’ve thought of. How many times have you backed away from doing something from fear of failure or because of what other people might think of you.

Learning to ignore the negative opinions of others takes time. Some of us let many opportunities pass by, simply because we listen to our inner voice and the voice of others. Fear of failure is part of this. How many times have you failed to do something, simply to avoid being rejected or failing? You don’t apply for the job because you probably won’t get it. You don’t enter the competition because others are better than you. You turn down a fun opportunity because you’ve never been very good at it or because others may laugh at you.

The simple answer to all these reasons is, so what! Who cares? If you don’t try something you want to do, you’ll never know whether you’re good at it or not. You’ll never know whether it may have been fun. You’ll never know if you may have been successful. If you don’t set goals and aim for them, you’ll never know what you can achieve.

I’m not sure who actually said it first, but it is well known that the only failure is failing to try. We could spend our lives sitting around, safely within our comfort zone, becoming an increasingly boring person.

As a society we have become too prone to analyse why something should or should not be attempted. We are too focused on whether or not something is good for us. We are too precious about our image and worry about what others may think of us. Who cares? Probably not the very people whose opinion we are worried about. And, is it anything to do with them anyway?

Next time something appeals to you, something you’ve never tried before, don’t be put off by the opinion of others. Don’t spend time analysing whether you should do it or not. Don’t wait until the time is right. That time may never come.

Learn to trust your instinct. When your instinct tells you to something, believe in it. Be bold. Forget about your fears and the opinion of others. Just go ahead and do it. Whether you succeed or fail, the experience will have added value to your life.

That’s Awesome for an Old Person

Be Proactive When an Opportunity Presents Itself