…Making Your Life Count with Dr Humphrey Mutiti
WIKIPEDIA says procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing something. The word has origin from the Latin procrastinates, which itself evolved from the prefix pro-, meaning “forward”, and crastinus, meaning ‘of tomorrow.”
In this article, I would say procrastination is the act of delaying or putting off tasks until the last minute, or past their deadline. It is a habit that one must learn to overcome. Procrastination is a killer and a thief of time. When you kill time, you begin to kill ideas and directions God has placed within you.
The King James Bible’s version of Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” He that waits for the perfect conditions will never do anything in life. You will never take off in life if you wait for a right time to come. Start now and with what you have.
Eliminate all excuses
The first step to overcoming procrastination is to eliminate all excuses for not taking immediate action. Refuse to give a reason why you cannot study. Overcome your excuses.
Be less busy
The second step is to be less busy! Activity does not necessarily mean productivity. Everyone is always on the move. People are moving forward, backward, and sometimes nowhere at all as though they are on a treadmill.
The mistake most people make is thinking that the main goal of life is to stay busy. Such thinking is a trap. What is important is not whether you are busy, but whether you are progressing. The question is one of activity versus attainment.
John Henry Fabre conducted an experiment with processionary caterpillars, so named for their habit of blindly following each other. In his experiment, Fabre placed these tiny creatures in a circle. For twenty-four hours, the caterpillars dutifully followed one another around and around and around.
Then, Fabre placed the caterpillars around a saucer full of pine needles (their favourite food). For six days, the mindless creatures moved around and around the saucer, finally dying from starvation and exhaustion even though an abundance of choice food was located less than two inches away. For all their activity, the caterpillars attained nothing.
We need to be known as those who achieve great things and not as those who simply talk about it. Go getters talk less and do more. It is best to try to achieve your goals than not trying at all. Procrastinators are good at talking, not doing. Noise produces nothing. Let us be like the apostles in the Bible.
Until today, they are not known for their policies, procedures, theories, board meetings, workshops or excuses, but they are known for their acts. Many people say they are waiting for God, but in most cases God is waiting for them. They pray and fast but they do not go out to achieve their goes. The cost of growth is always less than the cost of stagnation. As Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Occasionally you may notice someone who does not do anything, yet seems to have some success in life. Do not be deceived; things are never as they appear. Remember the old saying, “Even a broken clock is right twice a day.” As human beings, we are called to make progress-not excuses.
Let me share few reasons why you must not procrastinate in life. The first reason is that you are growing older every day. The second reason is that time is running out. Time will never wait for you. Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and begin to work. Do not put off for tomorrow what you can do today. My third and last reason is that you may not have again the opportunities you have today.
In conclusion, Procrastination is a tool of the devil to hold us back and to make us miss God’s timing in our lives. “The desire of the lazy man kills him, for his hands refuse to labour” (Prov. 21:25 NKJV). The longer we take to act on our dreams, the more unclear it becomes. So take action…now. Go for it…
The author, Dr. Humphrey Mutiti is a Pastor, conference speaker, instructor, and lecturer at Great Commission Theological Institute, an author of several books, has a Ph.D. Doctorate in Theology, a Ph.D. Doctorate in Ministry and a student in the school of law.
