I have just painted my 10-year-old daughter’s toenails, the first nails I have ever painted in my life.

That is how far I was prepared to go today not to start something. Are you a Procrastinator? What is your favorite, or worst procrastination tactic?

I must admit I have a little bit of a procrastination problem.

I don’t want to start something, because I am afraid I will fail. One in every five people on earth has the problem.

I want to write. Motivational and inspirational stuff. It has always been a dream of mine. I have lots of potential topics I have written down already, but I have only written 5 stories in my life so far. And I am 57. In three days time. 

I woke up at 01:30 this morning. And decided today is the day this is going to change. No more procrastination.

A thousand-mile journey starts with a single step.

And I am taking that step today. My goal that I’ve set myself was to start at 16:00, and write until 17:00. I did procrastinate a little bit more, to paint my daughter’s toenails. So I started at 16:11. But here I am, writing this little story about: “Are you a Procrastinator?” And this is a topic I am not even good at. Or maybe the fact that I am not good at it makes me good? Because people that are already good at starting things won’t read this, they don’t have too. This is for people like me, procrastinators. Toenail painters. Or whatever you do to have an excuse not to start something.

Maybe we fear rejection? What if people think my story is stupid? Or my business idea won’t work, or my goal is not achievable?

The thing to remember is that to start with something you must actually start. When you start something it means you are still in the initial phases. So it might still take a while before you actually fail, or get rejected. So you have time to make it work. You don’t fail the very moment you start. 

You have time on your side to put in energy, creativity, or whatever you need to make your project work. And you might not be as bad as you think you are. You might even surprise yourself. And what have you got to lose? I mean, it is not as if nobody has ever failed before you. And if you fail, it means you have some extra experience that you can fall back on with the next project you try. And we all know, the more experience one has, the better the chances of success are.

So here I am, halfway into my little story, I have actually started. I have proved something to myself. And I am enjoying writing this.

And if I fail? Well, I have read somewhere:

“If you don’t succeed at first you are just about average” Not pathetic, not a loser, just average.

I will try again. I will keep on trying.  Because if I don’t start, I have failed already, there is then no chance of success. At least starting and trying gives me a chance to succeed.

I Googled which famous people failed before they succeeded:

Walt Disney, Bill Gates, Ophrah Winfrey, Colonel Sanders, JK Rowling, Stephen King, and many more.

Imagine they didn’t start because they were afraid they will fail. Or they didn’t want to continue after their first failure. The world would have been a different place without their inputs.

Stop dreaming, stop procrastinating, just start! NOW!

And enjoy the journey!

JC Crafford

You can also read my story – Tomorrow might not come.