What is worth postponing in your life to achieve maximum success?
Earlier in the year, I traveled to Vietnam for a leadership meeting. One of my travel companions was a business colleague returning to her home country for the first time in years. She was excited to see the local team and experience tourist sites with me. Her favorite past time was to shop for silk fabric that could be used to sew dresses, skirts, and blouses. And shop we did! We returned to the US with fabric in many colors.
5 months later we are in my office meeting on current business topics and I am reminded of the shopping experience. I ask, “When is a good time to take our fabric to the tailor.” She exclaims, “I have consistently attended high- intensity training for the last 6 weeks. I’ll be ready to visit the tailor in two more months. Silk dresses are meant to fit slim and I need to be ready.”
I laughed. Then reflected in the difference in our two postures. I was ready to be sized and had considered the delay in doing so a procrastination and a reflection that she was too busy. I’ll spend another two months looking at fabric before going to a tailor and she will spend another two months sweating. I was waiting to go and my colleague was preparing to go. One of us was active and the other reactive. It occurred to me that each of us is expecting a variety of goals and outcomes in our lives professionally and personally. Many of us are desperately hoping for them to materialize. How do we hope for them to materialize: waiting for them or preparing for them?
What is worth postponing in your life to prepare for the desired outcome tomorrow?
• New jobs with increased responsibilities?
• Managing new relationships while nurturing delicate ones?
• Launching new initiatives in business while current ones are infancy?
• Creating new organization structures before legacy ones stabilize?
• And of course, buying new clothes on a “get-fit journey.”
The answer is any action that impedes your ability to achieve your goals and sustain success.
I witnessed a display of patience, determination, and commitment to achieving one’s best self by implementing a weekly fitness schedule. The exchange that my peer and I had resonated with me because self-realization set in. I concluded that I was not preparing for my desired outcomes as I was waiting. I lost sight of my personal goals and prioritized work and social activities ahead of them.
I was not ready for silk clothes fitting either, or for tennis season, and in general not preparing for my fitness goals with sheer determination. This interaction should remind us that establishing goals is the first step BUT accomplishing small milestones along the highway to success are not procrastination, they are preparatory steps for a long-term reward.
This approach is scalable to every area of your life. Below is an example of a formula to follow:
Step 1: Set a goal, a deadline & sign a contract with yourself. For example, 6 months from now I’d like to launch a blog site sharing my adventures in life, love and work.
Step 2: Schedule weekly assignments from start date until deadline date to prepare for launch. For example, investigate blog sites, page layouts, determine content and determine URL location
Step 3: Stick to schedule. For example, schedule time with yourself to review progress vs plans.
Step 4: Obtain an accountability partner. For example, find a friend, family member or coworker that will partner with you and proof read content.
Step 5: Schedule a launch partner 6 months later and send out invites 3 weeks prior.
When is a postponement a procrastination?
The definition of postponement is to arrange for something to take place at a time later than scheduled while procrastination is to delay doing an activity that should be done.
Make no mistake we all procrastinate. There are times in each of our days where we put off engaging in mundane tasks and replace with tasks that energize us. Often our goals exist in areas of our lives that are less exciting yet necessary. Self -motivation is a great asset here. Cheering yourself on to get started helps when you schedule small milestones and accomplishment them. This type of discipline creates new behavior traits and I encourage you to celebrate every accomplishment. You are learning the art of sacrificing time and effort today for rewards tomorrow. Do not procrastinate — there is no time to lose.
In summary, what is worth postponement? Anything that challenges your ability to achieve your maximum goals and sustain success.
How do we hope for them to materialize? By preparing for them. Run for your goals like a deer from the hunters, fly like a bird from the trapper!
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