Written by The article title is derived from a quote I heard by Les Brown. Brown said, “You can’t get out of life alive.” Some people think that their life will be forever and that they can procrastinate on doing what needs to be done in their life span. Procrastination is a big thing with people. Science has proven that some procrastinating people are genetically predisposed to doing so. An experiment conducted in 2015 by Daniel Gustavson and his collogues involved 352 twins. They took 188 identical and 166 fraternal twins and conducted a series of tests to measure procrastination and impulsivity. The results suggested that procrastination is an inherent trait and that some people’s reasoning for procrastination may be more than laziness or the propensity to avoid doing something a person does not desire. (Gustavson 2015) According to another article that appeared in the Association for Psychological Science (APS), which drew from the data of the “Twin Study” conducted by Gustavson, the article stated, “They found that procrastination is indeed heritable, just like impulsivity. Not only that, there seems to be a complete genetic overlap between procrastination and impulsivity — that is, there are no genetic influences that are unique to either trait alone.” (APS 2014)
Just because there is evidence that supports procrastination having some inherited qualities does not mean we should accept doing it for that reason. It is up to the person individually to resist or succumb to the behaviors. Taking the procrastination approach feeds into the narrative that you will live forever, and even in the afterlife, you will continue to live a life that will give you the ability to delay, be lazy, and have things catered to you. This is an unfortunate belief that many feel they are entitled to. Some think that the world should cater to them and that they need only exert minimal effort and receive maximum results. This thinking is a primary reason why almost 98% of the people in our world do not meet their potential.
As the title suggests, you cannot get out of life alive. You must die at some point. Knowing this means that because you have one life, you should live it with intention. Finding the better version of yourself will take resisting the desire to delay and put it off until another day. Another day is not promised, and neither is true happiness. Joy and happiness must be created. These aspects are made by pushing yourself to find out what about you makes you unique and extraordinary. Greatness does not have to be in the sense that the masses love you. It should be a goal that truly satisfies your heart.
The want to be better than what life expects you to be should be your motivator. It would be best if you wanted to wake up every morning with the desire to find a reason to be a better version of yourself. Living to seek that will allow you to want to be better. The byproduct of that want is your desire to strive to be. That does not mean you will automatically get there, but the journey to becoming will open you up to new gifts and abilities you acquire along your travels.
Do not live to expect. Live to achieve. Living to achieve may mean you will not be welcome in the group or circles you were once comfortable in. If that becomes the case, then understand that you are growing. The circle of people you run with may not be bad; they do not know you want an elevated life. Everyone is not meant to travel with you along your path. Do not halt your progress by waiting for someone you want to come with you to get the desire to move; they must come by their fruition. Attempting to drag others along will only impede your progress, and their stagnation may entice you to stay in a place that you know is not conducive to your growth.
Here is where you must determine if it is more important to have others come with you or if it is more important to find your true joy and happiness. The second choice may include something other than the situation you were in before. More than likely, it will not. You must be OK with this and agree to proceed without your previous familiarity. Notice what your desire to find a better version of yourself is doing.
This action is actively pulling you out of your comfort zone. Your zone does not provide you access to the greatness you seek. It often means that you must stumble through the darkness, and along the way, you will learn and develop qualities that will get you closer to the person you desire to be.
It will mean the death of the person you have been while you search for rebirth. It will be uncomfortable in the beginning for a few reasons. One is that it is new terrain that you are walking, and another is that the journey may be lonely. Know that both these aspects are qualities that cater to growth. You will meet people that relate to your mission along the way, and over time, what was once unfamiliar becomes second nature as you continue to move forward.
The saying “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results” is attributed to Albert Einstein. (Wilzcek 2015) The old version of you must die for the new version to start. Although painful and full of past remembrances, that death is part of the process. It is more of a metamorphosis than a death. I have talked about this before concerning butterflies. They go through various stages to become. Snakes also shed their skin to grow, and nothing in either process is pain-free, but both reveal beauty and growth that cannot be obtained without it.
Humans must desire to go through the growth process, which includes suffering, to unleash their potential. (Ben-Shahar, Dr. nd) Fearing this, procrastinating, and relegating to the status quo means you will never find a better version of yourself. Doing this means that you have agreed to rob yourself of your destiny. Many people have done this and, before their death, are filled with regrets concerning the things they should have done or attempts they should have made.
Many people view their hardships as burdens on their shoulders instead of catalysts for growth. Your point of view about the experience matters because it determines how you will use the event. Some see it as a reason to stay in position, while others use it as their springboard. Anyone who achieved something had to endure periods of uncomfortable growth and experience a series of unfortunate events. Each circumstance placed an additional nugget of strength and learning in their soul and gave them fuel and sparks of motivation to continue their journey.
Growth is not easy, and it means that some things you were used to must be burned off and go away because they either no longer serve you or have taken you as far as they can.
Realize that the process is not meant to stop you. It is designed to be that fork in the road, letting you think about your direction. It is that needed moment of pause. You may need to catch your breath for a second, and that “pause” acts as your time to breathe and think.
Your goal should always be to move higher and not be happy with your current circumstance. Whether good or bad, it should always be about pushing past your familiar and into unknown territory. Eventually, that unknown territory becomes familiar, and it is time to move forward. You are not receiving good advice when told, “Be happy with what you have.” Always be thankful, but satisfaction is end-game oriented, and every day you are given, life is meant to move forward to find something new to conquer.
Goals are necessities but realize that a goal should only be the next phase of your evolution and not the end result of the progress you have made. It would be best if you always wanted to see how far you can go. True happiness and joy are found during the process and not at your perceived end.
The journey only ends when you literally die, and even then, it is a new journey, but until that day happens, growth through movement and progress must be the goal, and that goal must continue to move. As Tony Robbins alludes to, “Progress equals happiness.” (Robbins 2017) Stagnation, on the other hand, only equals comfort in your discomfort.
If you choose to stay in place, you have the answer to your question of, “Why am I not progressing?” Some hope that fate will sprinkle winning lotteries or inheritances on them, so they do not have to move to get them. That does happen, but it is extremely rare and should not be a strategy for advancement.
Bibliography
Brown, L. (2014, August 4). You Don’t Get Out of Life Alive. YouTube/Future Analyst5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkQ9kT1mokA
Gustavson, D. E., Miyake, A., Hewitt, J., & Friedman, N. P. (2015). Understanding the cognitive and genetic underpinnings of procrastination: Evidence for shared genetic influences with goal management and executive function abilities. APA Psycnet, General(144(6)), 1063-1079. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000110
Association for Psychological Science (2014, April 7). Exploring the Genetics of “I’ll Do It Tomorrow”. Aps Association for Psychological Science. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/releases/exploring-the-genetics-of-ill-do-it-tomorrow.html
Wilzcek, F., PH. D (2015, September 23). Einstein’s Parable of Quantum Insanity. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/einstein-s-parable-of-quantum-insanity/#:~:text=“Insanity%20is%20doing%20the%20same,usually%20attributed%20to%20Albert%20Einstein.
Ben-Shahar, T., Dr. (2015, September 23). The Role of Suffering. WholeBeing Institute. https://wholebeinginstitute.com/role-of-suffering/
Robbins, T., March 20, 2017. Twitter, https://twitter.com/TonyRobbins/status/843960071000223744