The Great Procrastinator.

Oh dear, another ballerina! It was only yesterday I said that it was time to move on to get out of my rut and paint something new, or something different.

But here I am the great procrastinator, never do what today I can leave until tomorrow. Almost the story of my life. I say almost because the reality is that I may indeed put things off and say I will start tomorrow but unlike so many other procrastinators I always do in fact begin the task and I very seldom if ever never finish what I have started. This is the real story of my life.

One of the reasons for this is that I seem to work so much better when under pressure. Somebody asked me if I would do a painting for a gift for a friend for Christmas? "Of course but ask me about two weeks before you need it that way I will make a much better task than if I begin now knowing there is no hurry."

When I was a minister of religion I often had to have four services prepared for a Sunday. One for the hospital where I was a chaplain. One for the prison where I was also a chaplain. I had two churches and preached morning and evening services, so in total four different services to prepare.

I would go to bed on Saturday evening with some ideas milling around in my head. Sunday was a very early rise and a frantic hustle to prepare the first two of those services. So the day went on. Preparing for the next service once I had finished preaching one. Living on the edge indeed but it seemed to work for me.

Over a year ago I purchased an Ipad Pro and an Apple Pencil. I put off and put off making a start to using them for the reason I had, to paint. My birthday arrived and I had still not made a beginning but I had made a promise to begin the day after and to paint at least once a day until I felt that I had mastered the challenge. 

It has not been easy but with one or two exceptions I have kept my promise and I have always got at least two painting  I am working on and each gets some attention each day until completed. So one more ballerina in the pipeline but I hope with a twist to surprise.

Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.  Action and change are often resisted when they are needed most.  

Get a hold of yourself and have discipline.  

Putting something off instantly makes it harder and scarier.  What we do not start today will not be finished by tomorrow.  And there’s nothing more stressful than the perpetual lingering of an unfinished task. It drains the inner being.

The secret to getting ahead is simply getting started.  

Starting, all by itself, is usually sufficient to build enough momentum to keep the ball rolling.  

So forget about the finish line and just concentrate on taking your first step.  Say to yourself, “I choose to start this task with a small, imperfect step.”  

All those small steps will add up and you’ll actually get to see changes fairly quickly.

Every journey begins with the first step.

Have a productive day.