In the thick of feeling grateful, thankful, and as we push into the holiday season, the end of the year, New Year’s resolutions, taxes, fiscal quarters, business quarters, and the such, there is a lot going on. Balancing family, friends, work, and self can seem daunting at times, especially during the season where we should be the most thankful and slow down.
True, some people can, most of us can for a short time. But how do we make it something that lasts?
Simple… not easy.
The first thing to remember is that life doesn’t pause for us, we must pause for life. Too many times I have heard people say “when this happens, I’ll do this…” or “when I hit this goal, I can do that” and either they don’t reach those goals, or they too caught up in the process to remember only to make the same promises to themselves over and over and over.
Waiting Is Hard
No one likes to wait, it is against everything we feel inside of us, yet procrastination is one of the top killers of productivity across all areas of life. Sometimes waiting is the right thing to do… like planting a fruit tree, you don’t harvest fruit the day you plant. Certainly, results may be delayed, however when we wait for the next step or action because we are waiting for a result that may or may not be what we want, we get stuck.
Action Is Not Waiting… But Waiting Is An Action
So, let’s discuss for a moment this statement. There is a huge difference between procrastinating, being lazy or just not taking action and crafting a strategic plan of action that may include waiting.
Waiting for the sake of waiting will lead to laziness, procrastination, and being stuck. This type of waiting stifles growth, stops progress, and secures excuses as your daily go to, whereas…
Waiting that is carved out of a plan is a strategic action designed to stimulate growth, start progress, and slay excuses.
The Difference Makes All The Difference
When it comes to creating plans or writing goals, the difference rests in the execution.
Those who do nothing don’t execute.
Those who do anything execute.
What that execution looks likes may be different than expected, however progress is still progress. In business or life, the sustaining power of growth is movement. There is no time like the present to plan the future. The reality of this cliché is that acting today will move you when things are going well and will motivate you when things are not smooth. The best thing about having a plan is that you can change it. When we do not have plans in place, we can find ourselves feeling lost or hopeless.
Plans make the difference. Sometimes we don’t even follow the plan, and at times we won’t even care about the plan, however the fact that we have one is a beacon to remind us of our direction.
The sets the successful apart is knowing the difference between the waiting of inaction and the action of waiting.
Which one are you choosing to be today? Don’t wait until the timing is right, start today where you are and adjust as needed. It will make all the difference.