By changing nothing, nothing changes.

By changing nothing, nothing changes. – Tony Robbins

“Postponed? Seriously?” A year from now what will you wish you’d started today?

What does that mean?
This quote is about procrastination, and what results from doing nothing. I imagine every one of us have something we wish we’d started last year.

A diet, started last year, could mean everything from better health to a new wardrobe by now. A savings plan, started last year, could mean having the cash for a nice vacation.

Everyone has good intentions. We want to start working on something, we want to get better at something, we want to start accumulating something, but somehow, it just doesn’t get started.

If we don’t change something, start something, or somehow break free from procrastination, nothing will happen. That is simply how the world works. Do it, or it simply will not get done.

Why is avoiding procrastination important?  
Momentum is part of Newton’s First Law, often stated as “An object at rest will remain at rest, until acted on by an outside force.” That is an apt description of procrastination. A person not doing something, will continue to not do something, until acted on by an outside force.

Whether it is someone yelling at you to get something done, or your stomach telling you to get off the couch and get more munchies, not much is going to happen until you get an outside force giving you a little assistance. Motivation, threats, incentives, guilt, these are all forms of force, designed to get you in motion.

This quote really says why procrastination should be avoided. You wouldn’t be wishing that you’d started doing something last year if you actually did start doing it last year. You’re only wishing it because you did not do anything last year. You are wanting today because you procrastinated last year.

However, if you can avoid procrastination, you will get things done, if only by definition. That doesn’t mean you have to do everything you can, or everything you can imagine, no one has that much time. But if you act on what is important to you, you won’t be asking yourself why it was that you didn’t start working on it last year.

Where can I apply this in my life?
You could start by applying it to what you didn’t do last year. That would be where I would start. Take a moment and consider what things you wished you had started last year. Cleaning the house for the Holiday Season Parties? Perhaps hitting the gym so you were in better shape for those parties?

The list could go on for a while, but mine is topped by exercising and finishing my project car (or at least getting it back on the road). If I had started either of them last year, I’d be in a better position right now. But I procrastinated. I lost whatever momentum I might have had, and became the object at rest.

I am still less than a year away from having the 1969 Chevy Nova back on the road. Yes, I’ve done some things to move forward. Yes, I’ve prepared and planned and researched what needs to be done. But I haven’t gotten around to the actual doing yet, and for that reason, it remains undone.

On the exercise front, I have started walking at lunch, and have been doing about a mile in 15 min, so it’s a reasonable pace. Over the next few months I plan to ramp it up and start running again. I’m also doing some body weight exercises, including chin-ups, push-ups and crunches.

Next year, I won’t be wishing I had started these activities, because I will already have done them. Instead, I’ll be wishing I had started something else, like learning to speak Japanese or doing more wood working. That is just how things work.

That brings us to priorities. There will always be things you wish you had started, but what is important? That may change over time, and so you will need to make adjustments. That’s how life works. But if you don’t keep track of what is important, you may spend a lot of time doing things which are not.

Now take a moment and consider what of the things you wish you started last year are important enough to you to stop doing something you’re presently doing. You will have to find free time and other resources to start doing what you wish you’d started doing last year, so what gets the axe?

Now all that is left is to get a plan, some motivation, and some momentum. You probably already have an idea of a plan, and the fact you wished that you’d started last year says you have at least a bit of motivation. All you have to do now is get started. Momentum, it really is that important.

What can you do, right now, to take the first step? Can you find a web site with more information? Can you call (or text or email or…) someone and get some help, or have them hold you to your promise to get started? Whatever you are going to do, do it now. Or procrastinate. Your choice.

From: Twitter, @AR_Foundation
confirmed at : http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/705597-by-changing-nothing-nothing-changes
Photo by Charles Hutchins

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