"When you are in doubt, wait." – Wallace Wattles, in The Science of Getting Rich
The post title may strike you as somewhat odd. But consider this: Sometimes when you find yourself putting off particular actions, it's because your inner self is signalling you that you are simply not READY to take those actions yet. And that is because your habitual THINKING is not in harmony with whatever it is you want to be, do, or have.
Mr. Wattles tells us that action taken from a place of fear or doubt or from motivations that aren't truly in our best interests (such as acting simply because OTHER people want us to do something that pleases THEM, for example) cannot move us toward the manifestation of our desires.
Why? Because when we're holding ANY kind of thoughts that cause us to feel bad, it's a sure sign that we're moving AWAY from the completion of our desires rather than toward them. In those times when our thoughts thoughts simply are not in harmony with our desires. Instead they are harmonizing with the absence or lack of those things we desire, and we are then attracting more of the lack.
So forcing ourselves to take action when our thoughts are focused negatively (away from what we want to experience), doesn't really make much sense at all, does it?
Now this doesn't mean not to jump right into action — even intense, huge, MAJOR action — when you DO feel good. Mr. Wattles also says:
Do not be afraid to make a sudden and radical change if the opportunity is presented and you feel after careful consideration that it is the right opportunity …
And he completes that encouragement with this reminder:
… but never take sudden or radical action when you are in doubt as to the wisdom of doing so.
What it all really boils down to is simply paying attention to your True Self–that inner guide that always lets you know what is really right for YOU, regardless of what anyone or anything outside yourself may think. And the simplest way to "listen" to that guide is simply to ask yourself:
How do I FEEL right now? How do I feel when I am thinking THIS thought?
If your thought is filling you with joy, enthusiasm, love, or anything else that feels wonderful, then your thoughts are harmonizing with your "clear mental image,” and you are in a place to take powerful, "efficient" action. And if your thought is filling you with dread, guilt, shame, unhappiness, or anything else that feels BAD, well, what does THAT tell you? ;-D
Power is at your service, and to make each act efficient you have only to put power into it. Every action is either strong or weak, and when every action is strong, you are acting in the certain way which will make you rich.
Sometimes procrastination is just your True Self letting you know – through your mind and body — that any action you take right now would NOT be strong and efficient but quite the opposite. When that is the case, what is called for is to use your greatest power–the power of your mind, to shift to thoughts that please and delight you to the point of INSPIRED action.
And then you are TRULY powerful!