Why Do People Fail Financially? Procrastination

The Cost of Procrastination

Tip: Don’t put it off. There is a cost to procrastination.

“Putting off an easy thing makes it hard. Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible.” — George Claude Lorimer

Some of us share a common experience: You’re driving along when a police cruiser pulls up behind you with its lights flashing. You pull over, the officer gets out, and your heart drops: You’re not just anyone being pulled over; you’re a felon being pulled over. “Are you aware the registration on your car has expired?” And just like that, you’ve experienced one of the costs of procrastination. Procrastination can cause a flash incarceration, a substantial fine, a trip to the court, a long line at the DMV, missed deadlines, missed opportunities, and just plain missing out.

Are you Avoiding Tasks?

Procrastination is avoiding important tasks. Important tasks need to be taken care of. You want to take care of them before they become emergencies, when you have no choice but to do them now! Procrastinators can sabotage themselves. They often put obstacles in their own path. They may choose paths that hurt their performance. Now or later. Mark Twain famously quipped, “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.”

We know that procrastination can be detrimental, both in our personal and professional lives. The cost of procrastination can be high. Problems with procrastination in the business world have led to a sizable industry in books, articles, workshops, videos, and other products created to deal with the issue. There are many theories about why people procrastinate. Whatever the psychology behind it, procrastination has a big-time cost— personally, financially, with friends, with family, and spiritually.

Everything in the world, whatever is and whatever happens, is a test, designed to give you freedom of choice. You Need to Choose Wisely.
— Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

Putting important things off is NOT a very wise choice at all.