by: David Wilding

The number one reason people don’t get out of debt is they don’t try. This may apply to you. You want to, but never seem to do it. You put it off for whatever reason.

You want to wait for your life to be just right before you make the attempt. You tell yourself, when I get the new job, when I receive the next promotion, or when I get my next raise, I’ll go to work on my debt.

(c) 2004 David Wilding

Perhaps you are waiting for some artificially set date. You tell yourself the first of the year will be a good time to start or when you get back from vacation. Whenever it is, it is always in the future.

I call this “perfect situation procrastinating.”. This allows you to put off any action, while you wait for your situation to be perfect. It reminds me of a story I read the other day about a mother registering her daughter for kindergarten.

The mother, a school teacher, took her daughter to register for kindergarten. They were greeted by the kindergarten teacher near a table outside the room. On the table she had some paper and crayons. The mother stood back while the teacher did, what the mother recognized as, a simple screening of her daughter’s abilities.

The teacher asked the child to choose her favorite color crayon and write her name on one of the pieces of paper. The mother hovering in the background, knew her daughter could not only spell her name, but the names of all her family members. She was pleased her daughter would do so well.

However the child just stood and stared at the crayons. The teacher again asked her to choose her favorite color and write her name. The child remained still. Her mother knew she could do this but stayed back to allow the teacher to handle it. The teacher then put her arm around the girl and told her it was all right, she would learn to write her name during the school year.

As the little girl and mother rode home the mother asked her why she didn’t write her name. Her daughter responded, “She asked me to write my name with my favorite color and there was no pink crayon.”. The little girl, very capable of doing what was asked of her, didn’t do it because the situation was not perfect. Many times we are the same way.

As you get ready to tackle your debt, do that of which you are capable, not waiting for the perfect situation. While it is important to have a plan, it is more important to just begin. A plan may be adjusted as you go, but if you continually adjust your start date, you will never put your plan into action. So, start now, don’t wait for your pink crayon.