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Stop Procrastination – Take Action Now and Succeed

It is magnificent to love what you do, stop procrastinating and take action now so you can be a success.

People tend to like to plan, to create plans to design solutions to problems and situations. I have a friend who has been planning a business for the entire ten years that I know her. She has notebooks full of plans and designs. When she fills up one notebook she copies the most important or best plans into a new notebook and plans some more. When computers and laptops became commodity priced items, she began to copy her notebooks into computer files. On the computer she would search the internet and plan, plan and plan. What she never got around to was taking action, actually doing something with her plans. She always said she would move forward with her business as soon as her plans were in order. As soon as she finished her business plan, her research and her development plans, she was going to start that business. She used the “I’m not ready now, but as soon I get these plans done” excuse to procrastinate starting a business for more than ten years.

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photo credit: photographphil via photopin cc

In order to succeed, we have to stop using planning as a tool to hide procrastination. Planning has to give way to actually doing something in order for us to reach success. Here are a few ideas to help you get from planning to action:

* set and stick to a time limit for research
* mark your calendar for when you will start planning and when you will stop
* find an accountability partner, someone who will pressure you to keep your deadlines and move
* once you reach the start date you have planned, start working the plan

It is important to remember that nothing gets done with planning alone. The success comes when you start working on the actual plan. I have been a procrastinator and I have been an action taker. In my experience, it is much better to be a woman who takes action. The principle of inertia tells us that an object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion. In other words the more you sit and procrastinate, the longer you will be set in that mindset. When you start taking action, making steps toward your goals, the more likely you are to stay in motion and complete a task.

In order to stop procrastination and succeed in life, you must take action now. So, the question for you this magnificent day is what are you going to take action on now?

37 thoughts on “Stop Procrastination – Take Action Now and Succeed”
  1. I am one that plans & come up with great things to do to move me forward but it stays all in my head! You are so right, we must take action NOW to succeed. Great straight to the point post…As always you know how to get us straight LOL

  2. Yes! For me, havin gna accountability group make sme do something. I do not want to disappoint them or waste their time by not moving forward with the plans theyhelp me create.

  3. Thank you for stoppiing by! I am glad you liked the article. Stop back and let me know something you did on that list of yours.

  4. “In order to succeed, we have to stop using planning as a tool to hide procrastination.” THIS is a powerful statement! I see so many women in business fail in the planning stage. Execution is key. I tell my small business clients all the time, DO SOMETHING!!!

  5. I am glad that you are taking the steps you want to make your dreams a reality. It is smart to limit commitments to what you actually have time for, it makes for a happier life.

  6. This has been the backbone of my change in 2013. I’ve been reluctant to start anything since my “ducks weren’t in a row” and “my blog is still on blogger, not wordpress,” blah blah blah. In 2013 I decided to cut down my commitments to things that I absolutely love, and put my all into them, plan or not. It has been working tremendously. Now my plans are mostly there for reference.

  7. Personally, I can ignore deadlines. Having accountability partners makes me take action so that I am not embarrassed by failing to do what I am supposed to do.

  8. I defintely have procrastinator-like tendencies. I could benefit from an accountability partner. Or, maybe I just create and stick to some deadlines?

  9. You are right about not wanting to fail in front of people. I noticed that if I make my plans public I am more likely to get them done so I am not embarrassed by failing to do what I say. Great advice. Thank you!

  10. “Deadlines get things done.” I hear that around my office just about every day. So your friend’s accountability partner should give her a deadline. Nobody wants to fail in front of anybody else and if she and her partner set a deadline, I’m sure she will more than rise to the occasion, especially since all of her plans are in place, lol. The only thing left to do now, is do it! That’s what helped me!

  11. Pick someone and start telling them your plans and ask them to hold you accountable. When people give me plan ideas I mark my calendar and to ask them if they did what they said they would.

  12. If I find myself over planning it is typically a sign that I am anxious about following through. Planning is also the gift of the perfectionist. Oy… I have so much growing to do… I should make plan. KIDDING!

  13. I’ve found that when I finally do what I’ve been procrastinating about – it takes a 10th of the time I expected it to.
    This week I’m going to stop procrastinating about tracking my food intake with a free app I have access to.

  14. Yes, procrastination is about fear. Your idea of creating a plan with realistic action steps is a great one. Our plans must be SMART:
    Specifi
    Measurable
    Attainable
    Realistic and
    Timebound to be successful

  15. To avoid procrastination, I must have a plan with realistic action steps. That way, I won’t keep putting a task off. I agree with the fist commenter. Procrastination is connected to fear. Sometimes I don’t fear failure. I fear success.

  16. I learned about TAN at PowerUp last year and I have been working hard on that one! The Eat the Frog First is new to me from Tomika, but I am copying it and using it because it is such a great idea!

  17. I am cracking up at the story of your friend because I have come across people like that 🙂 I have really had to learn how to T.A.N. (take action now) like you said and to learn how to “Eat the Frog First”. My new thing on facing fear is that when I feel that fear or anxiousness, I know it’s something that I need to act on immediately. Great post!

  18. Maybe your friend should get a job as a business consultant creating plans for others to follow. Her passion is obviously in the planning and not the execution.

  19. Thanks for the compliment on the page layout. “Eat the Frog First.” I really like that expression. I am putting that at the top of my calendar each day to remind myself to do like you say, do the thing I hate most first. Eat the frog first. I really like that.

  20. Procrastination is a curse and a sign of fear! I try to avoid it at all cost. I have a sign on my desk that says “Eat the Frog First”. This reminds me to do the task that I loathe first. I love the accountability partner concept as I know I hate to let people down….

    FYI: New page layout looks great:)

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