I sometimes procrastinate and I have often wondered why. Procrastinating keeps me from getting things done, yet I hate it when I fail to get things done. Yet I still sometimes procrastinate. I bark at myself for my procrastinating and I usually deserve it.

In few years ago, it occurred that the main reason I procrastinate is fear. I fear that I haven't thought things true well enough to begin the project and this is sometimes true. Or I fear that I might not execute well and that is sometimes true. Or I fear that others might not like what I am about to do, which is sometimes true. But none of these are good reasons to fail to get the thing done. My personal battle cry is "Go to the Fear!" Identify the most reprehensible home repair project and get to work! Or pick up the file I least want to work on in my work as a lawyer. Or pick up the phone and make that call that I dread.

"Go to the Fear!" has a Stoic equivalent: "The Obstacle is the Way."

When I'm at my best, I'm going to the fear. I'm using the "obstacle" as my beacon for tell me where to go. What's the worst thing that can happen? You might fail, but then you will have gained knowledge in your failure and it's better to learn the outcome sooner than later. And many times you won't fail.

So always go to the fear!

I've decided to write an aphorism each day for the next 100 days. This is an attempt to get my creative juices flowing. I don't know what the topics will be. There is no plan other than to capture 100 thoughts that seem interesting to me. Some of my thoughts will be upbeat. Some will be provocative. Some, like today's, are ideas that I repeatedly tell myself.

Without further ado, here is Daily Aphorism #1:

If you are one of the lucky people, on the day you were born you were given about 1,000 months to live (about 78 years). You’ll be sleeping for 300 of those months. For 250 of those months, you won’t yet be an adult. You just clicked off one of your precious months. What did you accomplish last month? The sun is your daily clock and it only takes a few moments to rise and set. What did you accomplish yesterday? Are you going to let tomorrow slip through your fingers or are you going to mindfully create quality experiences, quality memories? How often do you remind yourself that if you squander this life, you don’t get a re-do?

When you read the above paragraph, does it seem like a threat or an opportunity? Do you take it as a paralyzing death sentence or an invigorating challenge? Your answer will tell you something critically important about yourself. "The trouble is, you think you have time."