Do you want a successful life?
If the answer is yes (which I hope it is), you likely prefer the ‘M’ word over the ‘P’ word. Motivation is a powerful tool, and I’ll admit, it feels good when you have something to work for. Procrastination, on the other hand…
Today I’ll juxtapose the positives and the negatives of these two words, and explain how we can avoid the fallacies rooted in each of them.
Motivation.
According to the dictionary, the word is defined as “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something”. In other words, it’s what compels us to get things done. You can be motivated by a variety of things: money, rewards, a person, and so on.
The Good.
Motivation is an amazing “asset”. Whether that motivation comes from external or internal forces, you can harness it to get stuff done. You can also utilize it to inspire others to accomplish goals. As former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.”
It’s no lie that it feels great to be motivated and to have purpose. When I have a goal in mind and I’m doing everything in my power to realize it, I’m in an amazing state of mind. It’s even better when I’m motivated to do something for Jesus.
The Danger.
Please don’t hear me saying motivation is bad – it’s not. But there is a trap we can fall victim to: putting our task or goal above everything else. When I have my mind locked on completing a task – whether that’s writing a blog post, brainstorming a new project, editing a video, etc. – I activate “laser-focus” mode. This causes me to disregard everything else while I complete the task.
Here’s where the issue arises: when I put my tasks first, I put people second. And Jesus explicitly tells us that people are important. When asked about the Greatest Commandment (Matthew 22:37-39, NIV), here’s how Jesus responded:
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
Notice Jesus didn’t say, “Completing all your tasks and getting things done.” He also didn’t say, “Achieving goals and thereby bringing glory to God’s Kingdom.” No, Jesus puts people first. After all, the goal of my blog isn’t the words I write, it’s the people those words touch. It’s not about what you do, it’s about who you do it for.
Time for the converse…
Procrastination.
Let me confess: I’ve put off writing this post for a while. But it’s time I cover said topic. Procrastination, according to the dictionary, is “the action of delaying or postponing something”. Beyond that, at least among writers, it always gets a bad rap – as it should. When procrastination wins, nobody gets things done (productive things, that is).
The (slight) Good.
In general, procrastination sucks. It’s the reason you never cleaned your room, asked for that raise, or expanded on the two paragraphs of your book that have sat on the computer for six months.
I won’t dwell for long on the “good” of procrastination. There isn’t much. The only thing I’ll say is that under the right circumstances, there are reasonable times to dither. Like when that guy at school offers you drugs and you hesitate and say “Maybe later”, or when you’re about to cliff jump from 100 feet up, and you pause. These are acceptable occasions to “procrastinate” – if it can be called that.
The Danger.
I don’t think I need to make it any more obvious: when we procrastinate, we’re putting our future – and God’s plan – on the shelf. A few years back, Tim Urban delivered a TED Talk on the subject of procrastination. If you have time, please consider watching the video, as it gives valuable insight into why we’re prone to procrastination: Inside the Mind of a Master Procrastinator.
Basically, Urban says we procrastinate because of the “instant gratification monkey”. We all want good things now, but few of us are willing to wait for the great things later.
If we aspire to beat procrastination, we must ignore the pleasures of today in exchange for the joy of tomorrow. The same principle applies to faith in Christ: will we compromise today, or wait for the future joy of Heaven?
The world is filled with compromise. As Lenina put it in Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World, “Never put off till tomorrow the fun you can have today.” This is how the world lives. But if you hope to make a lasting difference, you need to follow the age-old idiom of “good things come to those who wait.”
The Fallacies
I hope you see that living a motivated life is better than living one of procrastination. Except how do we get there? By following God’s plan for our life, while avoiding the devil’s lies.
You should be motivated to accomplish the tasks set before you, but don’t buy into the fallacy that tasks and achievements need to rule your life. Otherwise, you’ll become a task-oriented person and miss the actual people. No matter how much you do for the Kingdom, if you aren’t reaching people, you’ve done nothing. Please don’t fall for the same fallacy that I fell for.
Procrastination is trusting that what you can have now will be better than anything you can have later. You can also call it sin – rejecting God’s plan. The devil assures us that compromising today is way better than waiting for the good of tomorrow. But this is a fallacy – God offers us so much better if we have patience.
So don’t give up! Trust God’s plan, and let His will guide you. With His power, you can beat procrastination and be more motivated in life. Don’t buy the devil’s lies. Don’t give up.
To quote Superbowl-winning NFL coach Vince Lombardi, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win.”
As the prophet Isaiah declared (chapter 40:31, NIV)…
“Those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength.”
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