An abundance of enthusiasm, but little endurance

Don't let yourself stop you

Life moves at such a pace these days and more and more we find ourselves trapped in the uncomfortable position of running out of time and feeling as if we could have achieved more, instead we are left feeling dishevelled and tired by the days events. Early mornings with the kids, buses and trains to catch, stuck in traffic, in the office for nine, boss in the ear, leave for home, dinner must be cooked, little (big) glass of wine, relax and bed. A busy day that has left us feeling tired and knackered, yet again and again we feel as if we haven’t achieved any of our goals.

How many times have you seen something you need to do or a quick chore like the washing up that must be done, yet put it off until later, more regularly then you initially thought? A few weeks ago, I looked at my three-year olds bike sitting in the garden and said to myself “I must bring that in before it rains, Argh sod it, I’ll do it later.” It was five feet from me at the door and yet I was ignoring the opportunity to bring it in there and then and if it wasn’t for Mel Robbins ‘Five Second Rule’ it would probably still be out there now.

This got me thinking and considering the habit of procrastination and how impactful it can be on our normal day, even our lives. My mum once bought me a T-shirt when I was in my teens that read “I can’t be arsed”, a few years later she also bought me a book by Paul Merson aptly titled “I can’t be arsed” that I could only be arsed to read recently and I still to this day think she was trying to tell me something.

I spent so many of my adolescent years procrastinating, putting things off, leaving it until the last minute and basically not bothering to do anything until it really counted, which I’m sure we are all guilty of. I remember having 3 months to complete two small history projects, one on the Aztecs and one on the Tudors but left them right to the last minute the night before to the dismay of my mother. This inevitably lead to a 1 o’clock in the morning finish and a very tired pupil handing in two very rushed projects the next day.

But why? Why do we do it to ourselves? Only recently after starting my own business have I started to realise the effect procrastinating can have on us in succeeding and reaching goals. I’m sure we can all relate to getting up in the morning and saying “I’ll go to the gym this morning” yet before you know it the busy day has started, you’ve made a few excuses and suddenly it’s lunchtime. “I’ll go at three, there’s less people in the weights section and I need to let my food go down.” Hours fly by, it’s 8 o’clock and you are on the sofa watching trash TV with the kids in bed sinking a nice cold glass of wine or beer dressed in your comfy clothes for the evening. The alcohol tastes good but the guilt of not achieving hurts more than the hangover will the next day. It seems this day and age we are skilled at just putting things off, even our goals.

Procrastination is killing our goals and our dreams, It’s instilling our minds that “It’s ok to put things off”, “I don’t need to do this now” or “I’ll leave it until later”, “It will get done anyway, so why rush?” or even better “Someone else might do it”. That’s the crunch, “someone else might do it”, right now, someone else in the world is working harder than you at what you want to be the best at, achieving while you’re thinking about achieving, doing while you’re thinking about doing. People are excelling around you, not because they are better or smarter, but because they work harder and don’t put off, they’re enduring.

We have every opportunity in life at achieving our goals, literally being able to do anything we want, being enthusiastic at achieving and becoming great, yet we fail at the first hurdle when we subconsciously can’t accept the sacrifice and endurance required in reaching our goals. Accepting that you will have to be that little bit more tired, that you must make more time in the day, drop some luxuries in exchange for hard work and strive a little harder if you want to be more successful. This is the first rule to endurance, accepting the long over the short.

World famous athletes don’t become superstars overnight, they work tirelessly training and practicing their skills that they are forever enhancing. David Beckham didn’t become one of the world’s best free kick takers through sitting around dreaming, he achieved it with the time he invested as a boy kicking a football at a tyre hanging from a cross bar repeatedly until perfected. Thomas Edison over many years, conducted 1000 attempts at creating the light bulb before he was successful, calling it ‘The 1000 Steps.’ Now, there is a light bulb almost everywhere you look. These people didn’t get anywhere by procrastinating, they achieved by believing they will be the best and will work as hard and as often as possible until they achieve their dreams, they started enthusiastic that turned into endurance.

Since starting my own business whilst still being in full time employment, with a wife and two young children, I have come to realise that things just can’t be put off and to be successful I must make more time. I now get up at 5 o’clock every morning, almost two hours before I used to, to enable me more time to achieve my goals. I have found new time in the day to write my articles, develop my products and read my e-mails whilst still going to work and spending time with my family. Don’t get me wrong, I yawn a little more and it is painful to get up when it’s dark and everyone is asleep whilst I’m downstairs typing and learning. However, before anyone else’s day has started I’ve checked my e-mails, learned something new, revisited a product and been for a run. It feels amazing, it feels like achievement and feels like success.

Everyone is enthusiastic about many things but so few are willing to turn that enthusiasm into endurance. Procrastination will kill your dreams. My instructor in Royal Marines training once said to me “If you think you should be doing it, then do it, stop thinking about doing it.” As Mel Robbins, author of ‘The Five Second Rule’ would say “Count down from five and before one do what you want to do.”

Think about it from a different angle, you receive ￡86,400 in which you must spend by midnight and when the clock strikes twelve it is gone and there is no more, how quickly would you spend it and on what? I bet there wouldn’t be any procrastination and as you read this you can envisage exactly what you would buy, I can. It would be spent so quickly on items you’ve dreamt about your whole life, I’m sure of that, or at least pay off the mortgage. There are 86,400 seconds in a day so why do we not treat these seconds like pounds? Time is the real currency and once it goes, it goes. With every spare second you have you must use them wisely to achieve your goals, ambitions and dreams.

I could say try it tomorrow, but that would be procrastinating, instead, try it at the next opportunity that arises, whether it’s taking out the washing, hoovering, going to the gym or producing your next product, just do it.

Be enthusiastic and endure the long road and you will achieve your goals.

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