I’m a big fan of the philosophy that everything happens for a reason, even if that reason is just to teach you a lesson. I’m also a big fan of passing on things that I learn. So, here we go.
A couple of weeks ago, I woke up and my right hand was completely asleep. Nothing particularly unusual there, except that once it “woke up,” I had immense pain from my shoulder blade to my fingers. I didn’t think much of it – sometimes things get tweaked. But then things were just as bad all day the next day. And the next. And the next.
As it turns out, I have a lot of soft tissue damage in my neck and shoulder which caused 2-3 pinched nerves. Now, the thing of this saga is that I could have avoided it all if I had just been smarter and more proactive. If I had taken care of my back ten years ago, or my neck 3 years ago, I wouldn’t have had to deal with the last 2 weeks. My Physical Therapist says things like this happen all of the time. People put things off, wait for things to get better, and then one day, they are faced with a really serious problem.
There’s a lesson here.
It’s a universal pattern with universal results
This lesson can be applied across the board, and the ramifications can be a lot worse than what I have experienced. I know someone who was having chest pains for about a year. They didn’t do anything about it and ended up having a very serious heart attack. I know of someone who had debilitating pain in their back. They didn’t get it checked out and it turned out there was something very sad and serious going on that could have been caught earlier – if only they hadn’t put off having it checked out. You hear stories all the time about women who could have caught breast cancer in really early stages, but they put off having mammograms.
Even in business, this lesson applies. If you notice that a crack is developing in your corporation, don’t wait for it to heal itself. Get in there and do it. If you notice that maybe you are losing a lot of followers on Twitter, and if that is important to you, don’t just wait and hope that a bunch of new folks come back. Figure out what the problem is and fix it.
Learning this lesson can be super expensive
I am pretty lucky. My absorption of the lesson came at the cost of a painful arm. It hasn’t been fun, but I have no illusions about the fact that I’m still pretty darned lucky in life. Not everyone gets to learn this lesson at such a low price.
If you are having a problem – whether it’s physical, emotional, psychological, online-related, business-related – whatever it may be – don’t put off getting it looked at and fixed. Yes, it can be scary to delve into a problem and see what is causing it. Yes, it can take a lot of time to get it all fixed up. But is there any scenario in which you would say, “It wasn’t worth it?”
What are you putting off? Do you have a really good reason for it? Have you weighed the costs of putting it off?
Talk to me about it.
Image Credit: http://www.sxc.hu/profile/Mattox
Some great advice for everything. I have been dealing with some trolls and detractors for many months now. I have decided to ignore them but I guess they don’t go away can I send you after them…
In my culture people tend to run to the doctor for health issues but for business issues they stick their head in the sand. I wonder if I can use your example to get them thinking on attacking issues right when they happen.
You should totally send me after them. How can you get trolls and detractors? You rock!!
I think there are compelling parallels between the state of the human body and the state of a business body. Is your business about to have a heart attack? How can you ease the pressure, make work flow through better. Ooh, I’m inspiring myself 😀
Well, I went through something awfully similar three weeks ago with my arm, neck, shoulder. No details please. Just to say I put it off way beyond what I should have done. We all have those areas we just don’t seem to get to; something better comes along, like a twitter chat, commenting on a post, planting tulips, lunch with a friend, mentoring an entrepreneur, an interesting blog or book or fear of the medical profession.
Accounting & taxes are my worst offenders and one reason for this is, I’ve put off really getting time efficient organization. So it seems that putting things off leads more often then not, to a chain reaction of putting things off. The new shelves for my office (Ikea) are not installed yet, sitting in the barn now for over two months, and these would allow for a superior organization of stuff in my office; which in turn would propel me to sort and organize all the papers related to accounting , which when organized (along with the information on my computer ) would clarify what the best new system is. And then I believe I will keep up with my accounting and taxes. So it’s not just putting off the occasional “nasty”, it is the chain reaction of putting things off that can result from it. Something I never quite realized until I read your post and asked myself the question 🙂
@CASUDI
Well you know I love when I can inspire hamsters to run in peoples’ heads. Although I’m not sure if setting off that kind of chain reaction is something you’ll appreciate!
But yes, you’re right. Procrastination can come in all shapes and sizes, but the result is almost always the same – we are left in a situation that is not ideal.
Man. That would have made this post a lot shorter!
Hope your arm is feeling better now!