“I will do it later” This is probably the favorite line of every procrastinator and I admit to having said or thought this myself more than once. You convince yourself that tomorrow is a better day to start with those exercise you know you need to do, you will start tomorrow to manage your finances, you will write that letter tomorrow or make that urgent phone call TOMORROW.

If procrastination is an issue in your life, make a decision now and set a goal into motion by taking action immediately. The second best time to do it is today. Stop putting things that should be done today off till tomorrow or the day after as that might be too late.

But that is not the only reason. Getting things done – completion of projects, however small – gives you a feeling of satisfaction and achievement which in turn strengthens your belief in yourself. Once you get the hang of it, it soon becomes a positive habit. Jim Rohn used to say: “A positive habit repeated every day spells success. A negative habit repeated every day spells disaster.” And he is 100% right.  Things will not get done by themselves and the only time you can do them is in the now. That is also the only time that we can control – the now.

Another reason for failing is lack of accountability. Did you know that we get up to 8 times more done when we are accountable? We seem to rise up to the occasion and get that little extra out of ourselves. The easiest way to demonstrate that is with physical exercise. If we do them alone, we usually find plenty of reasons (excuses) to do less than we wanted to but when there is someone else who holds us accountable, who supports and encourages us, we will run that extra mile even if when we think we can’t even take another step.

Isn’t it ironical that that last mile is what gets you the best results? As in the gym where the last reps help you grow the most in terms of muscle growth and strength, it is the same with achieving your goals. So when you have a big goal, a dream, get yourself someone who will hold you accountable. Make sure it is someone who also has big goals, someone that is supportive of you and your ideas and has some of their own.

Accountability means being strict with each other about keeping commitments. And you’ll have to agree on the rewards and punishments which you will award yourself depending whether you actually do your daily, weekly,  and monthly tasks. Both partners are taking full responsibility for each other and it goes without saying that if you cheat, you will cheat yourself and that will show.