There is an old Chinese proverb that goes something like this, "The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the next best time to plant a tree is today." Fully the call to action is both evident and challenging. In my own life I have procrastinated and made excuses about a project I have felt drawn to undertake for close to seven or eight years now. The idea of not putting off today what should have been done yesterday doesn't even come close to the reluctance to launch that I have carried around ever since this great idea was birthed in my mind and then off and on in my thoughts over the years. The bad part about it is, every time I have shared my idea, people love it and ask what I'm waiting on, and in almost every case I don't have a sufficient explanation to provide. The easiest thing to say would be that I am procrastinating. So if today's Flat Tire Ministries Thought for the Week doesn't resonate with anyone out there, don't worry, I may just be writing this one to myself!
Normally, I identify as a person that moves from ideas to action with little time in between. Being a leader that is something that we do, make things happen. (Quick reminder, we are all leaders. You are either leading someone up or pushing someone down, it may be one person, doubtful, or it may be a whole corporation, but you are a leader in some capacity somewhere.) So, as a leader it is our responsibility to move the needle in the right direction. See a problem and find a solution. Plan for the future and then get the plan from paper to motion. At the end of the day, it is the leader that either evaluates his or her progress or society chimes in and moves forward with you or moves along after you are gone. Leadership is a privilege and making positive progress is what leaders are tasked to do. If that is what leaders are supposed to be doing, then why is it that procrastination even exists and what are the liabilities of not moving forward with the plans we have been given?
Whether it is a plan that will impact your family, or if it is a business decision that will move your company forward, the consequences of not doing anything, or even putting off starting until that illusive tomorrow arrives, we need to understand that progress is the expectation. Solomon was the wisest man to have ever lived and in the Book of Ecclesiastes he reminds us that there is a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to build and time to tear down, and most relevant to our lives is the fact that there is a time to live and a time to die. (Ecclesiastes 3) So, if we are supposed to be leading and there is something that we should be doing, but we aren't getting it done then we risk the possibility that time might just pass us by and somebody else will have to step up and do what we didn't have what it takes to get it done! Are you going to be the one that gets it done, or are you the one that God will call to clean up the procrastinated mess that a reluctant leader left behind in the wake of his/her indecisiveness?
So what if we just put it off till tomorrow? "I'm too busy right now to do that, I'll start on it tomorrow" has been my standby response for my own initiative, but that one doesn't stand the test either when you read what Solomon had to say about procrastinating. "Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom." Ecclesiastes 9:10. In other words, whatever you are given to do, do it well and do it now, because after you die it is too late!
Does that mean it won't get done if you don't do it? No way. What it does mean is that since you procrastinated and didn't do what God created you uniquely to do, someone else or a bunch of someone else's will have to carry your responsibilities through to action. That has implications for those you love and share life with because your actions impact the lives of others. Thus, your inaction also carries with it the consequences that indirectly and directly impact the lives of our family and friends. I don't want my inaction and procrastination to negatively impact my family's trajectory, so I have to be accountable to get the ball rolling and finish what hasn't started yet, but most definitely needs to start now!
What is holding you back? Most likely it isn't outside forces, those are just fuel for the excuses we make for not starting. Is it lack of time? Yet one more excuse to comfort us in our procrastination. We make time for everything else on our calendars, why can't we make time to accomplish what we were built to accomplish? When you stand before the judgement throne with God, what excuse will you be able to come up with which God would look back at you, and say "Oh, okay I didn't know you were that busy, come on in my mistake." More likely is the response that Jesus spoke of in the parable of the talents. The third servant had procrastinated about investing the one talent that his master had given him to keep while the investor was out of town because he didn't want to take a chance on losing that one talent. On his return the master was angered that this servant didn't even put the money in the bank to at least create a small amount of interest on the investment. (Matthew 25:14-30).
You have things that need to get done. You have goals to be reached and outcomes to achieve. You can start on your list today, or you can procrastinate until tomorrow if that day ever comes! We all have a purpose, don't allow "you" to get in the way of you completing what God created you to do today! Trees won't be planted, inventions won't be created, bridges won't be built, and relationships won't be restored unless someone moves to see those things accomplished. I pray that you will be moved by God's calling and that you will not procrastinate until tomorrow to start! Today is the day that we have been given, make the most of it! (Psalm 118:24)
Coach Carter
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