The Practitioner's Journal | Jiu Jitsu

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Procrastinating Your Way to Failure

How many self-help books have you read?

I’ve read dozens of them.

From business to mindfulness, and everything in between.

If there’s one thing that I discovered from this conglomerate of reading, it is…

There are an infinite number of ways to succeed.

Success, however you define it, can happen from any angle. Boundless from conventional wisdom or from a specific method.

Success can stem from any person, any personality type, or any circumstance. Sometimes it's contributed to hard work, grit, or luck. Sometimes it’s contributed to simply being at peace.

That said, there is one sure way to fail…

Procrastinating.

It doesn’t matter what you are trying to do or accomplish; it could be anything: starting a business, finding a partner, getting in shape, mastering a skill, or applying for a job.

If you [procrastinate] substitute [wait, avoid, never start, and refuse to take action].

YOU.

WILL.

FAIL.

We are all culprits of this form of inactivity.

I don’t think I’ve ever met someone, including myself, that hasn’t fallen victim to procrastination.

That said, procrastination is too often disguised by excuses that we commonly say, hear, and even agree with.

“I’m waiting for the right moment.”

“I’ll do it when I’m older”

“I’ll feel comfortable when I have ‘xyz’ amount of money saved up”

“I’ll start again when I can go all in or have an ‘abc’ amount of time available”

“I’ll have plenty of time to do it later”

“I’m too late to start now”

“It is too risky”

“I wish I would have started when I was younger”

…or the worst one of them all…

“I’ll start tomorrow”

Have you ever told yourself one of these?

These are all forms of procrastination…

Sometimes you do start tomorrow.

Good for you.

But most of the time we don’t. Most of the time we fail.

And you can be certain, if you don’t take action, you will too.

Don’t procrastinate your way to failure.

Own the process,

Tim 
Author of Mastery Monday
Founder & Student