Do Not Put Off What You Can Do Now

“Now” is the operative word. Everything you put in your way is just a method of putting off the hour when you could actually be doing your dream. You don’t need endless time and perfect conditions. Do it now. Do it today. Do it for twenty minutes, and watch your heart start beating.” ~ Barbara Sher, I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was … 

We can always find reasons for choosing to put things off in life–fear, uncertainty, or insecurity, too much responsibility and effort, too few resources or not enough preparation, perhaps the circumstances are not ideal or the time does not feel right, or maybe we are just preoccupied with one of the many other things going on in our lives. But at the end of the day, when we look back we usually can find plenty of opportunities in which we could have completed a task that we put off instead, and that is usually a fair indicator that we did not use our time to the best of our abilities.

As Barbara is telling us here, there really is no excuse that should hold any weight as to our lack of action; as doing things “now” is but a decision to be made; and the beauty in deciding to take action is that we will become meaningfully invested in our present moments–we will start to feel alive, to begin to feel that rush of overwhelming emotion that we can only experience when we actively participate in life.

I often find there to be a convenient excuse for not acting or doing something that I know I should do–the conditions seldom seem optimal, or there is a risk involved in acting versus not acting such as the potential of failure, of looking foolish, of letting others down, or of change. And yet it has often been those times in which I felt like not doing something but then forced myself to anyway, that I have found a strong sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Each day before us is a precious gift; it is up to us to determine how we will spend them. Personally, I want to be able to look back on my yesterdays and recognize that I did something of meaning and value with my gifts.

Accomplish something today that you felt like avoiding.

Questions to consider:

What kinds of things often keep us from actually getting up and starting on something that we want to start on?

Why do so many people seem to want to discourage us from taking action on seemingly risky tasks?

What does Barbara mean when she says, “watch your heart start beating?”

For further thought:

“Conditions are never just right. People who delay action until all factors are favorable are the kind who do nothing.” ~ William Feather, The Business of Life