Some Observations & Quotations for the Procrastinator in You

I've been putting off a project for a couple of weeks. I messed up on it twice and I set it aside and walked away from it. My story was that I needed to let it percolate a bit before tackling it again. Now, after two weeks, I realize I'm just procrastinating.

I still get irritated with myself that I didn't accomplish what I set out to do perfectly the first time. When I mess up a project more than once, then I get really irritated. And my punishment to myself is that I procrastinate, the longer I procrastinate the more rushed I will be to finish the project and the 'better' excuse I will have for the slipshod result. The time management decisions I make today will form my schedule in the coming days. So I've started meditating on these quotations and thought to share them with you in case you needed a bit of a project push also.

Here's to a quick and successful finish for my project and for yours.

I never lose an opportunity of urging a practical beginning, however small, for it is wonderful how often the mustard-seed germinates and roots itself.

~~ Florence Nightingale

"When we can begin to take our failures seriously, it means we are ceasing to be afraid of them. It is of immense importance to learn to laugh at ourselves."

~~ Katherine Mansfield

"Quality begins on the inside... and then works its way out."

- Bob Moawad

"People begin to become successful the minute they decide to be."

-- Harvey Mackay"

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.

~Flavia Weedn

There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.

~Author Unknown

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“He has half the deed done who has made a beginning.”

- Horace

"Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I shall have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"'Begin at the beginning.' the King said, gravely, 'and go till you come to the end; then stop.'"

-Lewis Carroll (1832 - 1898) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 1865

Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.

- Henry Ford

“There is no greater magic than meditation. To transform the negative into the positive. To transform darkness into light – that is the miracle of meditation.”

~~ Osho

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.

- Walt Disney

Tell everyone what you want to do and someone will want to help you do it.

~~ W. Clement Stone

That's why many fail— because they don't get started— they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin.

~~ W. Clement Stone

The natural law of inertia: Matter will remain at rest or continue in uniform motion in the same straight line unless acted upon by some external force.

~~ W. Clement Stone

"Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished."

~~ Ausonius

"If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however, if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that."

~~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Dare to be wise; begin! He who postpones the hour of living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.

~~ Horace

Before you begin a thing, remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead. If you could see them clearly, naturally you could do a great deal to get rid of them but you can't. You can only see one thing clearly and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.

~~ Kathleen Norris

Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.

~~ Anne Frank

Let us watch well our beginnings and results will manage themselves.

~~ Alexander Clark

"It concerns us to know the purposes we seek in life, for then, like archers aiming at a definite mark, we shall be more likely to attain what we want."

You've got to say, "I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it." It's called perseverance.

– Lee Iacocca, American Industrialist and Automobile Executive

To feel valued, to know, even if only once in awhile, that you can do a job well, is an absolutely marvelous feeling.

~~ Barbara Walters

"I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do."

Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.

~~ W. Clement Stone

I think there is something, more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren't enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualize their vision.

~~ W. Clement Stone

If there is something to gain and nothing to lose by asking, by all means ask!

~~ W. Clement Stone

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.

~~ George Bernard Shaw

"Do every act of your life as if it were your last."

~~ Marcus Aurelius

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand – and melting like a snowflake.

~~ Marie Beymon Ray

"Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can."

"Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action."

~~ Napoleon Hill

"The mathematics of high achievement can be stated by a simple formula. Begin with a dream. Divide the problems and conquer them one by one. Multiply the exciting possibilities in your mind. Subtract all negative thoughts to get started. Add enthusiasm. Your answer will be the attainment of your goal. "

~~ Robert H. Schuller

"The idea is to seek a vision that gives you purpose in life and then to implement that vision. The vision by itself is one half, one part, of a process. It implies the necessity of living that vision, otherwise the vision will sink back into itself."

-Lewis P. Johnson

"The beginning is always today."

-- Mary Wollstonecraft

"Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome."

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."

~~ Plato

"Opportunities are usually disguised by hard work, so most people don't recognize them."

-- Ann Landers

"Begin somewhere; you cannot build a reputation on what you intend to do."

-- Liz Smith

"Winning is not a sometime thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."

-- Vince Lombardi