“The only difference between success and failure is the ability to take action” — Alexander Graham

One of your greatest struggles in life for you to overcome is procrastination. It is something that all of us deal with and must fight on a daily basis. Many people have great ideas and dreams for themselves but very few people actually turn those dreams into reality. Many people leave this world never finding their true potential because they don’t act in the present. You should never put off what you should do today and say you will do it tomorrow because tomorrow may never come.

The Inheritance

There was a Man who left a field as an inheritance for his son. The field was barren and filled with rocks and weeds. At the time of his death, his son who was named Jacob inherited the land. Jacob was so excited that he took his son to see the land that he just inherited from his father. While Jacob and his son were looking at the land he began to tell him “Son. This land where we are standing was given to us by your grandfather. It's gonna take some work but I believe that we can turn this barren land into a flourishing garden. We can grow our own fruits and vegetables, plant some trees and build a business that will benefit the whole family for generations. We can do it together.” Jacob’s son loved the idea and dream of his father and he couldn’t wait to see it come to pass.

Jacob was a regular guy. He worked a 9-5 job and provided for his family the best he could. One day his son came to him and said “Dad, let's go over to the field and start working on it today.” Jacob replied “Sorry son, I would love to but I’m busy on a project for work. Let's do it tomorrow.”

So tomorrow came and Jacob’s son went to him and said “Hey Dad, let’s go over to the field and start working on today. Jacob replied “Sorry Son, I really want to but I have a trip coming up and I have to pack for it. Why don’t we work on it next week when I come back.”

Years go by and Jacob forgot about the field and kept on doing his daily and weekly routines. His son goes away to college in another state where he majors in computer science and agricultural development. One day Jacob's son decides to come back home and visit his family for the holidays. His dad is now old in years. Jacob’s son came to him and said “Hey Dad. Since I’m home for college, why don’t we spend some time together and work on the old field today.” Jacob replied “Oh son. I’m happy to see you and I would love to work on the field but right now I’m just not in the mood. My back is hurting and I’ve been wanting to watch this show that just came on TV. Why don’t we do it tomorrow.”

A few days later, Jacob’s son goes back to school and they never took the time to work on the field together. One day while Jacob’s son was in school, he received a call from home. He found out that his Dad had a heart attack and passed away.

After the funeral and the burial was over, the next day Jacob’s son discovers that his father gave him the field as an inheritance. That same day he decided to drive over to the field with a group of friends and start working on the land. When he arrived he saw that the field was still filled with piles of rocks and the weeds were overgrown. He began to work.

A few hours pass by. With the help of his friends, Jacob’s son was able to clear a lot of the rocks. There was one pile of rocks that stood out. It was the biggest pile in the field. They began to clear that pile together and underneath all of the rocks and dirt was an old looking chest. Jacob’s son began to open the chest and he discovered that it was filled with over $10 million dollars. On top of the money was a letter. He picked it up and began to read it:

“Dear Jacob,

If you are reading this, then you found my true gift to you. All my life I worked hard and I took my money and invested it. At the end of my life I accumulated a great deal of wealth but had many regrets. I know I wasn’t always there for you son but I wanted to leave something that would help you in fulfilling your dreams and building wealth for your family. Since you discovered this then I know that you are the type of man not to just talk about doing something but one who actually puts in the necessary work needed to make their dreams come true. I love you son. I hope this gift comes in handy and I’m glad it fell into the right hands.”

After reading this, Jacob's son began to cry and weep. He thought within himself. “If only my Dad and I worked on this field all those years ago, he would have discovered the treasure for himself.”

The Great Struggle

I wrote this story to illustrate the dangers of procrastination and why we should fight it at all costs. You should always do the most you can do today, in order to set yourself up for tomorrow. Your dreams won’t fulfill themselves. You must take the time that is necessary to do the work. You must learn to act in the present and focus on what you can do right now. Learn to tell yourself “Forget tomorrow, do it today,” because in that saying is the power to overcome procrastination. The bible says “A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.” Here are five principles to help you overcome procrastination and live your life to its fullest potential.

1. Identify Your Priorities

When you have a dream and you delay the process of bringing your dream into reality, it's because you prioritize other things before your vision. When you place friends, entertainment, pleasure, even your job before you working on your dreams, you are saying to the universe that the dream within you is not as important as these things you have in your life. You are showing your level of dedication. If your dream is important to you then you must identify and prioritize all the things that you need to do in order to make your dream a reality. You have to ask yourself “What is best for me to do in order to become who I’m meant to be?” You have to ask yourself “Am I doing everything in my power to create the life that I want for myself?”

Once you start asking yourself these questions, start documenting everything that is important to you. Make a list of your priorities in life and make it plain. Focus everyday in doing the things that will take you to your destiny.

2. Expand Your Comfort Zone

Something that will keep you from fulfilling your dreams is not properly growing and developing yourself. If you are the kind of person who hates doing things that are uncomfortable then you will never reach your greatest potential. The only way to grow is to expand your comfort zone. When you step out of your comfort zone and do things that are new and uncomfortable for you, you begin to increase your level of ability. As you level up your abilities, your zone of comfort expands because you become more able to do more things. By doing that you also increase your value.

If you really want to You should always make time for your growth and development. As you grow and learn new things your sphere of influence grows as well. Getting new experiences will help you overcome the fear of stepping out of your comfort zone.

3. Identify Your Goals

When you identify your goals, you give yourself targets to aim for. Having no goals makes everything tougher. Brian Tracy once said “By the yard it’s hard, but inch by inch, anything’s a cinch.” Identifying goals helps you break up a large plan into smaller obtainable pieces. When trying to do anything, looking at the big picture without reasonable goals will always seem daunting at first. But if you take the time to figure out what exactly needs to be done in order to accomplish your big dream, then the vision becomes more manageable and sustainable overtime.

Most people quit because they try to do so much in a short amount of time, rather than working things out little by little. Take the time to identify your goals; whether they are short, mid or long-term ones and how best to go about accomplishing them.

4. Make a Plan

Having a plan is essential for your life because if you fail to plan, then you better plan to fail. A plan helps you structure your journey. It helps you know what you need to do in order to accomplish your goals. A plan tells you what tasks need to be done. What actions need to take place. You would never go on vacation without having a clear plan of how you are going to get to your destination. Yet so many people never develop a plan of how they want to live their life and how they expect to fulfill their dreams. Even though your plans will change, you should always create a plan for yourself to get you started. When you have a plan it's easier to keep from getting distracted and to stay focused on the task at hand.

5. Except No Excuses

This to me is something that everyone should incorporate into their daily routine. Stop giving yourself excuses as to why you can’t do something. This is one of the prime reasons why you procrastinate. Because you can always find an excuse why you should do it later or why you can’t do what’s right at the moment when it is necessary to do so. You can always find an external force to complain about or to blame for your problems in life. But when you internalize your problems you leave no room for excuses, because you know that the only thing that stops you from accomplishing something is you.

Conclusion

Procrastination is something that we all deal with. Not just you. It is the cousin of laziness and one thing that I always remember reading about being lazy is this:

“I passed by the field of the sluggard, and by the vineyard of the man lacking sense, and behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. When I saw, I reflected upon it; I looked, and received instruction.” - Proverbs 24:30. Always remind yourself that tomorrow is not promised. So stop putting things off for tomorrow what you can do today. Stop telling yourself that you will have time later. Take the present as a gift and do everything you can do now. If there is something that you really want to do, and you believe that it is your dream and passion and you really want to see it accomplished, then start telling yourself to “Forget tomorrow; do it today” and “Forget later; do it now.”

If you like this article, I encourage you to watch my free training video “4 Key Reasons Why Most Entrepreneurs and Business Owners fail at life”. In it I share 4 power keys of leveling up. Also if you like this content, please sign up for our newsletter. Thanks for reading!

Hans Fleurimont,
Founder & CEO of The Galerie Media Inc.

Beware! This One Thing Will Rob You of Your Time, Your Money and Your Success!