Think of the things you could have done yesterday that were left undone. Well, let’s scratch that idea because the time that you spend thinking about what you didn’t do yesterday is wasted time today. If you are like me, today’s wasted time still leaves yesterday’s task undone in addition to today’s tasks that will be left undone. At the end of the day we lose yesterday and today because we have spent so much time thinking about what we left undone. So, what does tomorrow hold? If tomorrow is like yesterday and today, we will have compounded regrets over what we left undone yesterday, today, and what will invariably be left undone tomorrow.
You might ask, “how then do I get out of this cycle of compounded regrets?” Well, I did a cursory calculation and discovered that the time I spent bemoaning what I didn’t do could have been used productively to accomplish yesterday’s, and today’s tasks, and allow ample time to plan for tomorrow’s tasks. You may have heard the saying, “the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” As a matter of fact, they will go awry unless we develop the ‘discipline of doing.’ It has also been said that not only must you plan your work, but you must work your plan for your plan to work.
It is important to have good plans, make lists of the things we want to get done, and gather all the tools and resources needed to accomplish our goals. However, until our things-to-do-list gets done, and our goals and objectives are completed, we remain in the territory of the ‘undone.’ All the undone things become weights that get heavier if they remain on a list of things to do. When are we disciplined for success our load is light because we are always doing what can and should be done.