As we approach the end of the year, it’s easy to fall into the habit of pushing things off. “I’ll start that diet in January.” “I’ll focus on my business after the holidays.” “I’ll spend more time with family when things slow down.” Sound familiar?
Procrastination has a sneaky way of keeping us from pursuing our goals, and it can rob us of the life we truly want. The longer we wait to start, the less likely we are to take action at all. This concept is known as the Law of Diminishing Intent. Simply put, the more we delay, the less likely we are to follow through. And as life speeds by, we risk reaching the end with a heavy weight of missed opportunities and unfulfilled dreams.
One of the most common reasons we procrastinate is because we believe there will be a “perfect time” to start—a magical day when life slows down, work is easy, and we finally have the energy and focus to make our dreams happen. But the truth is, that time doesn’t come on its own. If we keep waiting, we’ll always find another excuse or distraction.
Another reason for procrastination is often fear. We’re afraid we might fail, or we worry that we’re not “good enough” to succeed at what we really want to do. Fear paralyzes us, and instead of addressing it head-on, we mask it with busyness or distractions.
When people look back on their lives, their biggest regrets are often the things they didn’t do, rather than the mistakes they made along the way. We tend to regret the things we avoided or delayed—the relationships we didn’t invest in, the dreams we didn’t pursue, the experiences we let slip by.
James 4:14 says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Life is short, and an intentional man understands this. He doesn’t waste time on what doesn’t matter, and he doesn’t wait for the “perfect” circumstances to make an impact. He creates the time and the conditions he needs to live purposefully.
If you’re ready to stop putting things off and start living intentionally, here are four tools to help you overcome procrastination and take action now.
Identify What’s Really Holding You Back
Procrastination often masks underlying stress or fear. Are you avoiding a task because it feels overwhelming? Are you afraid of failing, or of what others might think? Digging deep and identifying the real reasons behind your hesitation can help you move forward with clarity and purpose.
Stop Calling Yourself a Procrastinator
Words are powerful. When you label yourself a “procrastinator,” you reinforce a negative belief that this is simply who you are. Instead, recognize procrastination as a habit—one that you can change. Shift your mindset and begin to see yourself as someone who takes action.
Break Big Goals into Smaller Tasks
Often, the things we put off seem too big or daunting. Rather than focusing on the whole mountain, break down your goal into small, manageable steps. If your goal is to get healthier, start with a single habit—maybe drinking more water or taking a daily walk. Small steps build confidence and momentum.
Just Start
It sounds simple, but starting is often the hardest part. Remember, you don’t need to have everything figured out. Take the first step, no matter how small, and let that action build momentum. Once you’re moving, it’s much easier to steer your life in the right direction.
Think about a single step you could take right now to move closer to your goal. Maybe it’s having a tough conversation, signing up for that class, or putting your phone down to spend more time with family. Whatever it is, make the decision to start today. Small, consistent actions can lead to incredible change over time.
Procrastination steals from us the life we were meant to live. Don’t let another day slip by. Take one step today, and commit to taking one more tomorrow. It’s time to stop waiting and start building a life of purpose, action, and significance.
One of the main things that threatens to keep you from pursuing your dreams, doing the things you’ve always wanted to do, and living your life to the fullest is procrastination. It’s putting off doing the things that you know you should be doing.
It is so easy to live life thinking you have endless time to pursue your dreams. Right now, we are about two months away from the end of the year. This is a time where people start to put things off that they know they need to be doing. It’s really easy to say “I’ll start that new diet at the beginning of the year.” or “I’ll really give my business the time and energy it needs after the holidays.” or “I’ll really start to invest in my most important relationships once things slow down a bit.”
But the reality is, the longer that you wait to do something that you know you should be doing, the less likely you are to actually do it. This is known as the Law of diminishing intent. The longer you wait, the less likely you are to do it.
It is easy to think that there will somehow be some magic time in the future where you will have time to focus on your health. Or all of a sudden work will slow down to the point where you can focus on your relationships.
The truth is, that time is never coming unless you make the time. We live in our world where time is sucked up so easily. You don’t find time for priorities, you create time for your priorities.
You don’t wait until circumstances are perfect, you make the circumstances perfect now. Most of the regrets that people have in life are regrets of omission - where they didn’t do something they knew they should have, rather than regrets of commission - doing something they knew they shouldn’t have.
When people get to the end of their lives and they look back, usually their deepest regrets are things that they didn’t do. Opportunities they missed. Dreams they didn’t pursue. All the time they should have spent with their loved ones.
The sad part is, we are so afraid of making mistakes or failing that we never get around to doing the things we want to do. We are afraid of having regrets of commission - where we do something that we regret, that we end up not doing anything at all and ending up with a long list of regrets of omission.
James 4:14 says, Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Life is short. It always goes faster than we think and we probably live life each day assuming we have a ton of time.
An intentional man doesn’t wait until circumstances are perfect. Otherwise you will always keep waiting.
An intentional man knows that life is short and he doesn’t waste time on the things that aren’t important.
So I want to ask you right now, what is one thing you know you should be doing that you have been putting off?
Or what is one thing that you know you should No longer be doing, that you need to stop immediately?
Take some time to answer that question. For some of you, it may immediately come to mind. For others, you might need to dig into it a little more.
What is the one change you need to make right now that would positively impact your life that you have been procrastinating?
Here’s the reality, if you continue to put it off, the chances become greater that you will never actually do it.
Good intentions are not enough. You must start to take action and you must take action immediately.
If you know you’ve needed to get your health in check for a long time now, don’t wait until after the holidays, get started today
If you know you need to start investing more time into your family or your friendships, don’t wait until things slow down at work, make more time for those things now.
If you know you need to start that business, or that ministry, or that podcast, or whatever it is, I would encourage you to take one step in that direction today.
I know if you are listening to this podcast that you are a man that wants to make the most of your life. You are man who wants to be a good steward of what God has given you. You want to come to the end of your life with few regrets and with a life that you are proud of.
Today is the time to take action! Today is the time to get moving. It can be a small step or a large step but just take the step!
Here are four different tools that you can use to help you overcome procrastination in your life and to get started.
Almost all procrastination comes from some underlying stress. You are most likely running away from negative feelings by putting off your tasks. Most of the time, this is pretty unconscious…you don’t even know what is truly keeping your from taking action.
When I first started recording this podcast, I found myself procrastinating recording the episodes over and over. I always thought it was laziness or poor planning that was keeping me from taking consistent action, but it was really fear…it was fear that I wasn’t going to be good at it or that know one would like it or it wouldn’t be impactful.
I continued to look at the symptoms like (distractions, laziness, or poor planning) and trying to fix those, but what I really needed to address was my fear of failure. That was what was truly stressing me out and what was keeping me from taking action.
One of the best things you can do when you find yourself tempted to procrastinate is to ask yourself “What is stressing me out about this situation?” and really dig deep to the core issue.
Maybe the reason you don’t want to take control of your health is because you think you’ll just gain the weight right back and that it will all be a waste of time. Or maybe you think that the sacrifice is just too great and you’d rather keep eating whatever you’d like.
With relationships, it could be that you are scared that you are not going to be a good enough husband or a good enough father and so you’d rather spend your time at work so you don’t have to face that possibility.
Whatever it is, there is something down deep that is causing you to run away from doing what you know you need to do, and until you identify it and attack, it will continue to hold you back.
The second thing I would say is stop calling yourself a procrastinator. This seems simple but I do think it is powerful. You are not a procrastinator. That is not your identity. You are not a procrastinator but you have had a habit of procrastinating.
If you continue to label yourself a procrastinator, that is exactly what you will continue doing. You will always live in alignment with how you see yourself. If you believe that is who are you are there is nothing you can do about it, you will procrastinate the rest of your life.
Procrastination is not a finite character trait, it is an action…it is a habit.
It is something that you can learn to control. It is something you can overcome.
The third thing you must do to help overcome procrastination in your life is break things down into smaller tasks.
This is so important. We are typically paralyzed in inaction when things feel way too big or overwhelming.
Losing 50 lbs seems like a daunting task. There are a lot of things that are involved in taking that on. When you keep it as a big, overwhelming task that seems impossible, it will most often cause you to not take any action.
But when you break it down into small, manageable steps, it becomes much easier to take action.
So when I asked you what was one thing you needed to immediately start (or stop) doing that would have the biggest impact in your life…take the answer to that question and then break it down into as many small tasks as possible.
Then commit to taking action on those small steps that are more in your comfort zone.
Action will give you momentum…even if it is seemingly small action.
That leads into the last point of today…Just Get Started!
This seems obvious, but the challenge is almost never as bad as we make it out to be in our minds. The reason you haven’t started is because it feels too hard and too overwhelming and there is some underlying stress.
But when you take action on the small, manageable steps you laid out, you will grow in confidence and you will realize that you are fully capable. Getting started is usually the hardest part and the part that keeps so many people from their dreams.
You don’t need to have everything figured out, make a plan, and get started. You can always make adjustments as you go.
It is really hard to turn a car if it completely stopped, but when the car is moving, just a slight movement of the wheel can turn the whole car. The same is true in your life, when you are taking action, it is much easier to make the necessary adjustments.
So my challenge to you is to do something Today that will get you started on this thing you have been procrastinating. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Don’t wait until the end of the year. Get started today! Take one step in that direction and then commit to doing one more thing tomorrow.
Let’s be men that don’t wait for the right circumstances to do what we need to do, but rather we create the circumstances and we create the time to make it happen.
Don’t come to the end of the year with regrets…don’t come to the end of your life with regrets. Take action today!
You got this! I believe in you. I know you can do it. You have everything it takes!
Thanks for joining me today. I hope this was inspiring and encouraging. If this was helpful, please share it with something else that you know that might need today’s message.
Thanks for being here. Live a life you are proud of by living intentionally.
