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Other people are not willing to do what it takes, or are only willing for a short time before they run out of enthusiasm and look for the next titillating idea.
At some point, dreaming merges into doing, and it is action that finally creates results. But before results show up, there is a lot of learning to do, and a lot of that involves making mistakes repeatedly and feeling frustrated at insufficient resources.
As Henry David Thoreau once said, "If you have built castles in the air; your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundation under them."
When you are willing to move from dreaming to acting on your dream, things start to move faster because your mind and emotions are now in alignment with your purpose. This is the foundation that Thoreau spoke about.
Procrastination, or postponing action, is one sure way to maintain the illusion that you are converting your dream into a reality. When you say to yourself that you will do it later, you are, in effect, appearing to be willing to take action--except it will be at a future date.
This way of kidding yourself and everyone else will only last a short time and then your sham will be exposed. The only way to end procrastination is to fight it before it becomes an issue. You fight procrastination by showing your willingness to take action.
Willingness, true willingness, means that you do something as soon as possible, preferably now. This small action is a sign of commitment. It moves you out of inertia. It is the seed for growing momentum.
If you can't do something immediately, you can still do something to show your commitment. It's called scheduling. A schedule is a specific date and time when you will perform an activity.
Procrastination, on the other hand, always leads to grief.
As early as 1791, William Blake commented in a humorous poem:
"If you trap the moment before it's ripe;
The tears of repentance you'll certainly wipe;
But if once you let the ripe moment go
You can never wipe off the tears of woe."
Dreams are fragile things. They can seem vibrant and alive one day and completely gone the next day. The way to anchor them is through willingness to make them come true. And that willingness is expressed through action. Any action is good enough in the beginning: even if it is just the decision to learn more about how to do what you want to make happen. Later, action matures and becomes increasingly more focused and effective.
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