We all know it, procrastination is evil. Insidious. We know not to do it, but it's easier to do than avoid.
Take this website for example. My good friend Gary bought me hosting as an incredibly thoughtful present for my birthday at the end of May (28th if you want to send a present next year!). Yesterday, when I went live, was 13th August - nealy a full 3 months later.
Now we're all busy. In that time I've spent a lot of it with my family, designing the site, working in my regular job, etc, etc. And let's face it, lots of telly and wasting time.
I'm really happy with the result - and run the risk of now undermining it! - but I could have released sooner.
Keeping hold of something, especially when it bares ourselves to the world is scary, very scary. This website is the culmination of my efforts as an 'artist' and I am terrified people hate it. I'm scared that people will say 'is that it?' or, worse, just not care.
[as an adjunct I'm amazingly grateful to those that have supported me in doing this. Easily said, but it really does mean the world. A man becomes very brave with people behind him and none of us stand alone.]
But it is what I am and what I have achieved in my creative life to date. I can guarantee some people will not care about it, so why worry. Where are my efforts placed, worrying or improving? I am often guilty of wanting everything to be 'just right' and I think many of us feel the same. It's difficult to judge what is good enough rather than a requirement.
So, having taken the daunting plunge of showing my website to my small part of the Internet world, I would challenge you (and me, always in need of a kick) to think about how you are going to change 'your world'.
It's easy to wait for everything to be right, but I can only guarantee this: things will never be right. We can always do more. We can always do and be better. And we can always dream bigger dreams.
But today, right now, our current dreams are big enough. Run with them, share them, make them real. If you don't you will regret not doing so. I do.
So think, what can I do today? What small accomplishment is within reach? What am I waiting to change?
This isn't about art, it's about life. A change in job, moving house, finding a partner, emigrating, picking up a new hobby, spending more time with people you love, giving to charity, the list is endless. These are all things we will do 'tomorrow'.
What do we expect to change tomorrow that isn't already true today? Just do it.
[if you're struggling to convert ideas to action, I have recently started using an approach outlined in Getting Results the Agile Way which has given me a lot of clarity. It's free so check it out.]