It’s getting late. I’ve missed my best window of opportunity. I still have so many other things left to do. It’s ok; I’ll just start tomorrow.

Tomorrow never comes.

You know you’ve said “I’ll start tomorrow” before, but it has been five thousand four hundred and thirty two tomorrows and you still have not done it. There are probably a hundred things you’ve said in your lifetime that you would start tomorrow, but they are now totally forgotten.

We use this phrase as a way to rationalize procrastinating. Saying “I’ll start tomorrow” feels like we’re not putting it off because we promise we’ll start it tomorrow! But then tomorrow never comes as we continue to say “I’ll start tomorrow” until weeks have passed by. Months have past by. And the thing we said we’d do tomorrow are long forgotten.

The truth is, the more you put something off, the less likely you are ever going to start.

I think we forget that we are not promised tomorrow.

And even if we have tomorrow, a year from now, will you regret not doing this today?

I know there are things I put off that I wish I would have started the first day. I would be a much healthier person and a better artist today if I had not believed the lie of “I’ll start tomorrow.”

So are you ready to finally take action today?

Action Steps

Find the root.

Why are you saying you’ll start tomorrow? Is it because you ran out of time to do it today? Is it because you’re too tired? Is it because you want to watch the next episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Netflix?

Now what is the root behind that? Did you not manage your time so well today? Did you lack a plan? Are you lazy? Have you said yes to too many things? Are you afraid to start?

The only way to kill the weed of this lie is to pull it out from the roots or else it will creep back into your life.

Plan ahead. Set goals.

You are more likely to do something today if you plan ahead and set it as a goal. Schedule it in for today.

You can learn more about creating a task list in this post: Planning for Success: Task Lists, where you can also find two FREE task lists you can use.

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So what are you going to schedule in to do TODAY with no excuses?

I had a great workout this morning. I did so well this summer and the beginning of this semester, but as I became busier, I found myself skipping my workouts more and more. Many of those days I told myself “I’ll start tomorrow,” but tomorrow never came as more important things “came up”…and my bed just felt so good at 6am (the time I would have needed to work out if I wanted to do it before my class). For me, personally, I am a morning person and the way my schedule works, I know that if I do not work out in the morning, I won’t work out that day.

Friends, if we continue to say to ourselves “I’ll start tomorrow,” we will find ourselves years later looking back with regret on what we could have been. What we could have done. Who we could be now if only we had defeated the lie and started today.

Pull the lie out by the roots, plan ahead, schedule it in, and JUST DO IT! (click)

What are you going to do today?