A lot of people are not able to achieve their goals or get what they want out of life for the simple reason that they procrastinate. How many goals have you reached so far? If you are not achieving many or most of your goals, you need to take a long, hard look at yourself. Perhaps you are not committed. Perhaps you have been procrastinating.

But how do you measure commitment? The best way to measure it is through action. Whenever you delay starting a task or whenever you fail to finish a job you’re already in the middle of, ask yourself why you aren’t doing it or why you’re not able to finish it.

(1) You can’t do it and you don’t want to do it.
(2) You can do the task but you don’t really want to.
(3) You want to do the task but you can’t.
(4) You can do it and you want to.

If you’re being honest with yourself, you can start on #4 right now. Once you do, then you’d have taken the initial step toward slaying the procrastination monster.

According to studies, you can develop new habits in as little as 14 days. This is true if you are truly serious about changing. Do you have dreams? Perhaps a weight loss or fitness  vision? Then you need to take action and keep your eye on your goals. If you do, you’ll achieve your goals.

Usually, the things that we avoid are things that our success is dependent on. So start a list of tasks that you least like. Start thinking about how you are going to approach them. You’ll have to do them so decide if you’ll take them on first or save them for last.

You probably know people who always seem to get things done. Look at their work habits. How do they deal with tasks that they dislike? What do they do to make sure they remain focused on their goals? Why not try doing the things that you most dislike first? Or maybe you can do a task you dislike in between tasks that you like doing. Remember what Mark Twain said: “If you have to swallow a frog, don’t stare at it too long.”

Some people are unable to make commitments because they feel they aren’t going to be able to live up to their commitments. If this is you, try what Thomas Edison did. Whenever he thought of something, he went public by calling a press conference and announcing his invention. Once the world knew about it, Edison locked himself in his lab and went ahead and invented whatever it was that he said he invented.

You may be reluctant to follow Edison’s lead, but you can find less drastic ways of applying his method in some areas of your life. Look where it got Edison — he is regarded as the most productive and greatest inventor in the United States. He understood the importance of staying active. He defeated procrastination by announcing to the world what he is committed to do. As a result, he achieved extraordinary results.

In closing, here’s an advice from Edison: “If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.” Doesn’t that make you want to start taking action right now? Don’t put your fitness success on hold!