This morning, I saw it again. That overgrown tree continued to thrive, blocking out the light. My patch of Bermuda grass thinned. Erosion began eating away the slope.
I knew what to do. I knew how to do it.
Procrastination had worked before, but not this morning.
“Just do it,” I thought.
No, it wasn’t on my calendar. But on Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM I marched to the garage and grabbed my wood handle bypass loppers. With surgical precision I whacked away.
An unexpected connection
Just do it. Such an inspiring phrase. According to the New York Times, the founder of Wieden+Kennedy agency, Dan Wieden credits the inspiration for his Just Do It Nike slogan to Gary Gilmore, a convicted murderer on death row. Yep. I’m serious.
Gilmore demanded the execution of his death sentence. On Monday morning, January 17, 1977, when asked if he had any last words, Gilmore replied, “Let’s do it.”
Do it
The phrase “do it” is so powerful it can be applied to anything.
Wieden, who tweaked Gilmore’s last words into the Nike slogan said,
“I like the ‘do it’ part of it. None of us really paid that much attention. We thought, ‘Yeah. That’d work,’ ” he says, adding, “People started reading things into it much more than sport.
“The resonance of Just Do It was completely inadvertent and unforeseen.”
Nike turned a morbid statement into inspiration for athletic activity and top performance. Let’s take it a step further.
Today you have people to lead and encourage. A business to grow. A task to complete. A team to lead. A decision to make. An apology to be given. A thank you note to write.
Who cares where you find inspiration or why you’ve procrastinated. Just do it.
Victory
Thirty-minutes later the pile of pruned limbs testified to the power of me taking action. I stood victorious. I had lopped off procrastination. Now my grass could thrive.
Don’t you love the energy “making progress” creates?
What do you need to do?
Where does procrastination have you stuck?
What one thing can you conquer today?
Just Do It
Swoosh,
Steve
Steve, you are SO RIGHT! Love your coaching and inspiring motivational thoughts! And…I’m so glad we are family! Thanks for your faithfulness in sharing the truths you search out and see, they are so important in knowing AND applying! Swoosh!
Great article !!!!
Great motivation! Always enjoy your blog posts.