Sunday, February 9, 2020

Don't Wait! Start Now!

When was the last time you told yourself you would do "it" later? How many Mondays have you designated as the beginning of a new chapter? I bet you have a history of incomplete New Year's resolutions. Congratulations! You are a procrastinator. There are a lot of us.

I use to chalk my procrastination up to a lack of time and energy, but the truth is: I was afraid of failure. I was terrified of failing in a public way. I was, and to a certain extent still am, a prisoner to public perception. This reality caused me to waste a lot of time.

Failure sucks! The fear of failure is so powerful that after a while we convince ourselves it's easier not to try. Here's another hard truth for those of you waiting for some mythical cheering section: No one has to support you or your dreams! Coming to grips with this is liberating. Life is too short to allow fear to steal what time we have. 

We are solely responsible for setting and accomplishing our goals. Along the way there will be opportunities presented and opportunities denied, but no one can do make us take the leap. I truly believe it's better to fail miserably than to look back and wonder what if? What do you have to lose?

My advice is cliche, but keep pushing! Fail trying! Die living! Don't waste today because of what someone may say tomorrow. Don't live the "bad faith" Sartre wrote so eloquently about. 

There's nothing wrong with prioritizing your aspirations. You can't fail if you love and respect yourself. Try to keep the promises you make: especially the ones you make to yourself. Keep Grinding! Don't wait till Monday!