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We live in a world where anybody can achieve anything, seemingly easier than ever before. Yet we don’t. We sit in anticipation wondering what our next steps will be. Marcus Aurelius in Meditations says “You could be good today. But instead you choose tomorrow.” Why don’t we choose today?

Procrastination is mainly rooted in fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Tim Ferris says if you have ten million followers and 10% don’t like what you do, that’s a million people that don’t like what you have to say. If you can’t handle it , you just need to stop now. I certainly for one don’t like the idea of that, but if one person needs what you have to say, shouldn’t you continue? One would certainly believe so.

“Well-being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing.” – Zeno

One needs to realize what their potential is and overcome that fear. You need to put in the time and focus on what you want to accomplish. We are creators according to nature and should use that ability to create to help one another. By taking small steps to your goals, you give yourself the ability to stay on course. I believe Zeno is saying that while we know what we need to do, the tasks are minute but can be difficult to take that first step.

“It is not we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” -Seneca

Another root cause of putting things off is thinking we have all the time in the world. Stoics have the perspective of amor fati…remember you will die. We don’t have an infinite amount of time. Not only that, we don’t know when that time will come to an end. We waste so much time on our screens, matching candies or growing crops. What does that do to help you accomplish what you want to accomplish? How does that help you help others? We need to remind ourselves, not in a morbid way, that we are not going to be here forever. Sure it doesn’t matter what you gather. There may not a Uhaul behind the hearse, but what kind of a legacy do you want to leave behind?

“The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” -Seneca

The time to act is now, not in an hour and certainly not tomorrow. Do those push-up’s or crunches, pick up that pen, start that first chapter. Do what needs to be done be that beacon of light, the lighthouse for the people watching you. Don’t worry about what they may say. Marcus Aurelius says “Don’t waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people–unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful.” The only people we should be listened to are the ones that have achieved what we want, not the ones that are afraid to start that journey as well. Fight the fear, focus on the task at hand, and get it done!