A letter to the procrastinator

Tomorrow means never

One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that we will do something “tomorrow”, or that we will do it “later”.

The worst case of them all is when we say “someday”, which pretty much translates to “fucking never”.

Here is why you should eradicate these words from your vocabulary.

Each time you use them, you are creating an excuse for yourself.

You make this excuse to remove the imagined pain of doing the thing RIGHT NOW.

You falsely believe that future you will be wiser and more responsible.

Shit! future you is a superhero who will do all the bullshit that you have been piling up over the years no questions asked!

I am here to tell you that future you, might be worse off than current you!

Do these situations below sound familiar?

“Sure, I could join the gym today and start on my new diet.”

But those Krispy Kreme doughnuts are looking extra sweet today!

“It’s possible to get a start on my business today, I mean the computer is right there…”

Fuck that, let’s play some Fortnite. We can do that shit tomorrow!

“I should call my dad and catch up with him, it’s been a while.”

Nah, I will call him later, time to torrent some episodes of Big Bang Theory.

This is the mental dialogue of someone who is doomed to fail in life. If you train yourself to take the easy way out, your mind will no longer take your suggestions seriously.

When it counts, and you MUST accomplish something, you will sabotage yourself. You will be stuck in the deadly feedback-loop of procrastination.

Frustration will be your new best friend as you wonder why you can’t get yourself to accomplish anything worthwhile.

Look, it all begins with your daily choices that literally change your brain.

Have you ever walked through a field of grass and were surprised to see a pathway?

Well, at one point in time there was grass there. Then someone walked through it, creating a small breach in the grass.

Other people continued to follow this path because it had the least resistance.

Over time the grass died and the path that you see today was forged.

Your brain does the same thing with its mental processes and thought patterns. Each time you postpone what can be done today for tomorrow you are reinforcing that thought pattern.

Tragedy strikes when the thought process becomes your automated response, this is when you are truly FUCKED.

So, next time you try postponing something that can be done today, just envision that mental pathway digging itself deeper and deeper into your brain.

Imagine fat, lazy and unaccomplished versions of yourself off at work digging

Look! That crazy fucker over there is using a drill!

He is smiling while doing it too.

Ouch.., It hurts just thinking about it.

Instead of saying I will do it “tomorrow”, I challenge you to change the frame.

Ask yourself

“what can I work on today?”

Remember that starting is the biggest issue with procrastination. If you start at least you have created something real, you have planted a seed.

Here is how you should structure the previous examples:

“Sure, I could join the gym today and start on my new diet”

I will do 10 push-ups right now and prep my meals for the next 3 days.

“It’s possible to get a start on my business today, I mean the computer is right there…”

Let me organize a consultation time with a website developer.

“I should call my dad and catch up with him, it’s been a while.”

I will call him and tell him that I only have 20 minutes to talk to him for now.

There is always something that can be done, the key is to start looking for these things. Never postpone what can be done today for tomorrow.

You don’t want to reach the end of your days when there are no more “tomorrows” and regret not having accomplished anything.

Your new word is “TODAY”

Ps. For this asking those is a letter that I sent out to my newsletter. I am Isaac from Therealizedman. I like to share some of my content in this sub from time to time.