What Is Your Excuse? #WednesdayWisdom

It’s the time of year—nay—month—when we dust out resolutions old and new and resolve to stick to them, don’t we? Well, while I’ve got goals, I’ve switched from resolutions to habits. Habits stick. Habits require you to be consistent and that’s what works for my routine, my health and my work.

But Life does get in the way and we tend to put things off. Procrastinate. Often, it seems like the time or the moment is just not right for doing _______ (you can fill in that blank with your own personal thing).

The time isn’t right to start writing that novel. There are too many other things to do!

The time is not right to start exercising (I’ll start tomorrow – everyone’s favorite!)

The time isn’t right to get that ____ fixed. More important tasks need to get done and perhaps this can wait?

The time is just not right to …. – sorry. Not on the priority list!

The excuses can be endless.

And of course we’ll keep making them.

For instance, the procrastination with the book writing is a sore point with me. So much that I became an expert at creating book drafts. And waited so long that I lost it all with the mega computer crash last year. Funny thing – it didn’t get me down and I thought, hey, I’ll start afresh. Yup. Only half finished drafts to show for it.

When I take stock of the day, I know I could have found at least fifteen to thirty minutes to devote to the book—or other tasks I keep putting off.

But I don’t. There are days I only attend to the things that MUST be done. I wait even though I know I shouldn’t.

It used to be the same with finding time to exercise/walk. Good thing I overcame that inertia!

Sure I am tired or busy with a million other things. Whatever the excuse, here’s the thing: not taking action is my decision. Of course, it is not the best decision. There have been times when I did not feel like doing something, yet I pushed myself to do it, only to find it was fun and enjoyable and feeling happy that I took action to accomplish it. And  I resolve not to put things off again.

Sigh.

In life, there is often no such thing as the perfect moment, at least not until we start “doing”. We’ll always have that overflowing to-do list that serves as the ideal excuse for not taking action to do something we could/should.

Taking action is simply about deciding to do so and yet we find reasons to stall that decision. Isn’t not taking action easier? Also, by putting it off, we don’t risk failure.

This year, I’ve decided to minimize inaction. When I look back, I want to smile, feeling the satisfaction of having done the things I meant to. I don’t want to let circumstances or fear dictate my actions or force me into making decisions that I am not happy about. So what if something is intimidating? The truth is, we never know how tough things are until we actually tackle them. To do this, we must take action without waiting for that “just right” moment.

Let’s take action. Now.

Because some day is not a day of the week.

Sometimes later becomes never!

Those who delay taking action until the time is right end up doing nothing at all.

Having the world’s best idea will do you no good unless you act on it. People who want milk shouldn’t sit on a stool in the middle
of a field in hopes that a cow will back up to them. Curtis Grant

Think about this:

What usually stops you from doing something you keep putting off? How will you overcome it, at least most of the time?

Is there someone who discourages you from stretching out of your comfort zone? What are you going to do about it?

What is one thing you plan to do today that you’ve been putting off for a while?

If not, what is your excuse?

Wednesday Wisdom is a series with short bursts of non-fattening, easy-to-consume wisdom in the form of stories, quotes, anecdotes, and humor.