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Procrastination steals our dreams. Here’s how you get started right now. If you think “I can’t” then you MUST do it, whatever it is. There is nothing wrong with an attempt and a miss…in the grand scheme of things it is almost always better than not swinging the bat at all.

A good friend of mine went out and started a brand new website design business a couple of months ago. He was amped up and excited about the whole thing, talking nonstop when he got started.

At the time, I was excited for him and encouraged him to go for it, to reach for the life of his dreams.

Recently I called him up and I asked him how things were going, and he said “great”.

He proceeded to tell me with lavish enthusiasm about all the wonderful and profitable things he’s going to be doing. All the plans and ideas he has for his new company. All the things he is looking forward to being able to have and do when the big bucks started rolling in.

Funny enough, can you guess the one thing he DIDN’T tell me?

That’s right…

Anything that he’s actually DONE.

You see, I could quickly discern this by listening between the lines. As a matter of fact, this situation resonates with me. I recognize this tendency in others more and more as the weeks pass as a constantly-striving-for-that-next-level entrepreneur myself.

Why?

Simply this: I’ve been there.

Many, many times in fact.

You see, this friend of mine is a dreamer. He’s a planner. A real big thinker.

But…the one thing he’s not?

He’s not a doer. He just doesn’t take action. (Not yet anyway)

This kind of thing depresses me. It frustrates the heck out of me. Makes me want to throw my hands up in the air.

How many people do you know like this?

Are YOU like this guy?

Do you procrastinate on your dreams?

It’s ok if you are. It’s ok if you do. I oftentimes have been that same guy in my life. There’s no secret there. I’m most definitely a big, big dreamer- as often as not in the clouds as I am solidly on the ground.

But on the ground is where the action is.

We’ve just got to realize that the greatest idea in the world won’t get you anywhere without taking action. The truth is that an “idea” is just an idea. It’s fragile, delicate. It’s fleeting, ephemeral. It has so little solidity a small puff of air can blow it away or a negative thought shoot it down.

We don’t even know if it’s a good idea until something gets done and the world has a chance to choose to take a look or take a pass on it.

It’s true that the entrepreneur is nothing without the idea.

But the idea is nothing without the work.

If we don’t take action and put in the work, ideas don’t grow. Plans fall apart. Freshness grows stale. Ambitions wither. Dreams die.

It’s a sad, sad story, oft repeated.

What about you?

What are you putting off in your real estate investments?

What are you waiting “for the time to be right” on?

Famed UCLA men’s basketball coach John Wooden, who won an obscene number of NCAA games and championships, once said that “We cannot let what we can’t do stop us from doing what we CAN do”.

The truth is that it’s better to do something, do ANYTHING, rather than just sit around planning what might work, talking about what might or might not happen, conjecturing how to do this or when to do that.

The temptation to procrastinate catches hold of us all from time to time.

Even successful, motivated, ambitious, “make it happen” people fall victim to this trick of the subconscious mind that you can hear whispering in your ear “not yet…not quite…almost…wait for it…”.

Even you, even me.

Again and again this holds us back from moving forward and taking action.

The truth is that it’s better to do something, anything, rather than sit around planning what might happen- or worse yet worrying.

Easier said than done, I hear you thinking.

It’s not always easy to do it, but it IS simple.

How is that?

Anytime you think “I can’t do it”, then you simply tell yourself that “You must begin now” – and master yourself to follow through on this new thought pattern by developing the habit of taking action.

If I can’t, then I MUST.

This idea “If I can’t, then I MUST” isn’t original to me by any stretch. It’s probably not even original to where I heard it from. Likely as not this phenomenon has a long history of retelling for one reason…

…it flat-out works like nothing else to get you moving when you’re frozen.

Think about it. When was the very last time you accomplished something you weren’t sure going in that you could do? I mean, really got the job done. How did you feel? How did you see yourself?

As energized, confident, and empowered- now, that’s my bet.

Did you want to do more?

Action builds momentum. It feeds itself until it hums along unconscious of conscious thought.

On the flip side of the coin, you can’t build momentum if you don’t take a step, move forward, and take that leap of faith.

In fact, the longer we hold off, often the more entrenched we will get in the world of thinking and the harder it will be to enter the world of doing.

The real key is recognizing these weak thought-patterns within us. And setting out to systematically DESTROY them.

How do we do that?

The key here is realizing that movement from rest expends the most energy.

After that, you build momentum. Movement becomes easier to sustain than start.

Momentum will get you to your goals- quick, fast, and in a hurry.
So why wait to take that first step when after you do it becomes so much easier?

Now…what about my friend with his new internet design business?
Richard Bandler said it best when he stated a real truth in that “He who hesitates waits and waits…and waits.”

Well, I’m hoping not with my friend but I suspect he will still be planning his web design business this time next year. Granted, he’ll probably have a whole lot more “ideas” than he does today, and much more than he did when he first “started”- but nothing will have actually been done.

Had he done anything at all he’d be a lot better off. Would it have been perfect? Definitely not. Would it have been successful? Maybe but most likely not, not right off the bat anyway.

But he could have improved on it.

There would have been plenty of room for change of direction and corrections to be made on the fly.

Is that difficult and frustrating?

You better believe it.

But listen to me. It’s a lot easier to change your car’s direction when it’s moving on the road already than it is to do in the driveway before you’ve keyed the ignition.

That’s a simple fact and a great analogy.

Human beings are remarkable creatures. We are very good at responding to our environment. If something’s wrong we’ll naturally fix it. That’s why it’s not very important to get it right the first time.

You’ll respond to any problems just fine. It will get better with time. Too many of us were taught Ready, Aim, Fire as if we only get one shot.

Too often this is not the case. We should be ready to fire and then aim based on what we learned from the first shot.

Almost every successful person around me, partners and business associates alike, have shared with me that they too understand this concept- and apply it.

Being “ready” is one thing, but too many of us can’t realize when you’re already there.

Now, with me, this has been a lifelong struggle. Not to procrastinate. Not to overly plan. Not to look at every single possible scenario. To just get in there and take action.

Because that’s what it’s all about.

Doing something new requires action. “Doing”. As in more than just thinking.

Here’s a thought to act on.

Right now, let’s all work on getting things done sooner. Let’s not spend so much time sitting around planning what might or might not happen.

That type of thinking only slows us down and buries our ambition.

That’s why I write articles like this.

Part of it is helping others to overcome what holds them back.

But part of it is pure unadulterated catharsis- purging the negative energy that has and still sometimes does hold me back from taking action toward my goals.

This article is a thought process put down on paper.

There’s an old Chinese Proverb a friend of mine loves to quote:

“Think long and strike fast”.

I think that’s pretty straightforward, is it not?

Are you ready to strike?

Your friend,

Danny Welsh

Danny Welsh is the editor of investing newsletter ‘The Good Steward’ with Investing Do’s, Don’ts and Deals! Overcome investing procrastination and get started now with America’s #1 Real Estate Network. Danny invites you to find incredible Investment & Wealth Building Opportunities & Strategies at HIS Real Estate Network.