Today, I came across a TED talk titled “Inside the mind of a procrastinator” by Tim Urban. He used an entertaining story about a monkey to describe procrastination. But that’s not what caught my interest.
It was the last slide in his presentation – the following image. The life calendar is your life in weeks. Every single week that you will be alive, if you live till 90.
It reminds me of all the times I have counted down days on a calendar. Crossing each one off with a large red ‘X’. One step closer to the big day. That scares me.
But what scares me, even more, is contemplating how many of these boxes we waste. The time we spend dreaming about doing something meaningful in our lives but never taking action.
1. The dream to help other people, but never letting go of your self-interest.
2. The dream to become a leader, but never having the self-belief to try.
3. The dream to start a business, but never building up the courage to start.
And many more such dreams.
Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die!
Everyone wants to become a millionaire but no one is willing to lose all that one has!
Everyone wants to become an entrepreneur but no one wants to spend years toiling hard without sleep and with no return!
Everyone wants to become famous but no one wants to spend years failing without fame!
Everyone wants to find out why they are born but no one wants to spend time just trying to find out why!
Everyone wants to achieve their dreams without waking up to reality!
Everyone wants to overcome their weaknesses without spending long years overcoming it!
Everyone wants to have an amazing future without sacrificing your present for it!
Which trap are you stuck in?
Everything can always be done tomorrow until it can’t. Life feels like we have no deadline, but in truth, it’s the biggest of them all.
There is no moment when you fail everything you aimed for.
There’s always tomorrow until there’s not.
Life will never be perfect. Waiting for the right time to do something will equate to waiting forever. This waiting is based on fear of change, plain and simple.
‘Start’ is the dangerous word.
Do the scary thing called start. You will be glad you did.
Start working towards your dreams, because those boxes are running out.
The clock is ticking amigo. Stop reading this article and use the time you have left to create a legacy that’s bigger than you could ever dream of. Inspire the world through your gifts, take care of your family and come to terms with the fact you’ll have to say goodbye one day.
Death is guaranteed for all of us. It’s the only certainty we have and it’s the only motivation you will ever need.
Are you making it count? If you found this helpful, consider sharing it with a friend living across the ideological divide.
The author, Rinkesh, can be reached on Facebook , Instagram, Medium and LinkedIn.