BREAKING FREE:

BREAKING FREE FROM LAZINESS

PUTTING AND END TO PROCRASTINATION

 

(insert clip: Flinstones)

 

Procrastination is a sign of laziness.

 

 

Portrait of a Procrastinator

                                Phase 1 – “ I’ll start early this time.”

                                Phase 2 -  “I’ve got to start soon.”

                                Phase 3 -  “I should have started sooner.”

                                Phase 4 -  “There’s still time to do it.”

                                Phase 5 -  “What’s wrong with me?”

                                Phase 6 -  “I can’t wait any longer.”

                                Phase 7 -  “Just get it done.”

                                Phase 8 -  “Next time I’ll start earlier.”

 

(insert pic: t-shirt Top ten reasons I procrastinate)

 

I walked by the field of a certain lazy fellow and saw it was overgrown with thorns, and covered with weeds; and its walls were broken down. Then, as I looked, I learned this lesson; “A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest!” means that poverty will break in upon you suddenly like a robber, and violently like a bandit.           Proverbs 24:30-34

 

THE CAUSES OF PROCRASTINATION

 

1. I_________________

 

A double minded man is unstable in all he does.          James 1:8

 

Indecision can cause you to postpone

some of life’s most important decisions.

 

2. P___________________

 

If you wait for perfect conditions, you’ll never get anything done.

                                                                                                Ecclesiastes 11:4

 

3. F_________

 

The fear of man is a trap.                                   Proverbs 29:25

 

What have you been putting off because you are afraid?

 

Don’t let fear paralyze you!

 

4. A_________

 

A lazy person is as bad as someone who is destructive.              Proverbs 18:9

 

Procrastination is passive resistance.

 

5. L_______________

 

Lazy people want much but get little, while the diligent are prospering.

                                                                                                                Proverbs 13:4

 

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion.                             Amos 6:1

 

THE COST OF PROCRASTINATION

 

1. IT CAUSES P____________

 

A lazy fellow has trouble all through life; the good man’s path is easy.

                                                                                                            Proverbs 15:19

 

Procrastination turns a problem into a crisis.

 

2. IT WASTES O__________________

 

If you won’t plow in the cold, you won’t eat at the harvest.   Proverbs 20:4

 

“For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these:

‘It might have been.’”   John Greenleaf Whittier

 

Procrastination wastes God’s gifts.

 

3. IT H________________________

 

A lazy fellow is a pain to his employers – like smoke in their eyes or vinegar that sets the teeth on edge.                                                      Proverbs 10:26

 

THE CURE FOR PROCRASTINATION

 

1. STOP MAKING E____________

 

The lazy man is full of excuses. “I can’t go to work” he says. “If I go outside I might meet a lion in the street and be killed.”   Proverbs 22:13

 

“An excuse is the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.”

 

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way;

 if you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”

 

“People who are good at making excuses are rarely good at anything else.”

                                                                                                - Ben Franklin

 

2. START T_____________

 

Never boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what will happen between now and then.                                                                  Proverbs 21:1

 

“Many Christians have the right aims in life.

They just never get around to pulling the trigger.”

 

Write down 3 things God wants you to do:

1.       In your family

2.       In your personal life

3.       In your career

 

The hardest thing you will do it take the first step.

 

3. ESTABLISH A P_______

 

A wise man plans ahead. A fool doesn’t.                        Proverbs 13:16

 

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

 

               

 

                                P redetermine a course of action

                                L ay out your goals

                                A djust your priorities

                                N otify key personnel

 

                                A llow time for acceptance

                                H ead into action

                                E xpect problems

                                A lways point to successes

                                D aily review your plan

 

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazy fellow. Learn from their ways and be wise! For though they have no king to make them work, yet they labor hard all summer, gathering food for winter.                       Proverbs 6:6-8

 

All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the One who sent Me, for there is little time left before night falls and all work comes to an end.                                                                                  John 9:4

 

4. FACE YOUR F_________

 

What is your greatest fear?

Is it keeping you from making positive change?

 

“Courage is not the absence of fear. It is moving ahead in spite of them.”

                                                                                                - Mark Twain

 

“Focus on giants – you stumble.

Focus on God – your giants tumble.”

 

5. FOCUS ON THE G_______ , NOT THE P_____

 

Let us not become tired of doing good; for if we do not give up, the time will come when we reap a harvest.                                 Galatians 6:9

 

Now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.  2 Corinthians 6:2

 

Answers: Indecision; Perfectionism; Fear; Anger; Laziness; Problems; Opportunities; Hurts People; Excuses; Today; Plan; Fears; Gain – Pain.