“It gets late early out there.” – Yogi Berra

At a recent book event, a man raised his hand and said, “How did you come up with the title SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week?”

I told him I meet so many people who talk about what they’re going to do … someday.

Whether it’s take more time with their family, take better care of their health, whatever … they tell me all the things they intend to do when they’re not so busy, when their kids go off to college, when things aren’t so crazy at work, when they retire … fill in the blank.

Henry Miller said, ‘Life, as it is called, is for many of us, one long postponement.”

The problem with postponement and procrastination is that our future is not guaranteed. The longer we wait, the less likely it is we’ll do whatever it is we wanted or needed to do.

That’s a prescription for regrets.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from interviewing thousands of people about this topic, it’s this, “Procrastination is not about time management, it’s about time motivation.”

My grandmother was the one who taught me this. When I was ten years old, she went all out and got me a “big” Christmas present, exactly what I had asked for. When I told her how happy I was, she nodded and said, “Then send me a thank you letter.”

I promised her I would.

Then I got busy, (Yes, I know that sounds ridiculous. A ten year old … BUSY). Weeks went by. Months went by, and I never did write that thank you letter.

Before I knew it, it was Easter. Our family traveled several hours to our grandparent’s house for a family gathering. My grandmother was not one to mince worlds or tiptoe around issues. She pulled me aside and said, “Sam, what happened to that thank you letter?”

I told her, “Oh Granny, I’m so sorry, I meant to but I …”

She wasn’t having any of it. “Sam, have you watched any TV the last few months?”

“Yes.”

“Have you read any books?” (I was an avid reader. Go Black Stallion series.)

“Yes.”

You can see where this was going. She said, “Sam, you had the time, you just didn’t make it a priority.”

Bingo.

Ever since then, whenever I start coming up with reasons (aka excuses) of why I’m not doing something, I remember what she taught me. “I have the time. I have the same 24 hours a day everyone else has. I just haven’t made it a priority.”

I believe in the power of quotes. They are wisdom distilled. Sometimes, they’re just the incentive we need, the right words at the right time, to motivate us to do what we want to do – what we know we should do – but for some reason aren’t doing.

Read the quotes below. Select one that sings to you. Print it out. Post it where you’ll see it every day. Next time you’re about to put something off because you don’t have “time,” remind yourself, you don’t need more time, you need more motivation.

If it’s important, you’ll make it a priority, and you’ll do it today.

10 Top Quotes on Making the Most of Our TIME … Now, Not Someday

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t; you’ll find an excuse.” – Jim Rohn
2. “At the moment of truth, there are either reasons or results.” – Chuck Yeager

3. “Are you putting aside what you want most for what you want now?” – Zig Ziglar

4. “The trouble is, you think you have time.” – Buddha

5. “Some people get stuck because they keep telling themselves stories about how stuck they are.” – Anonymous

6. “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” – C.S. Lewis

7. “I have heard every excuse in the book, except a good one.” – Bob Greene

8. “Tomorrow is another day. But so was yesterday.” – Rene Ricard

9. “I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgment. It takes place every day.” – Albert Camus

10. “The bad news is, time flies. The good news is, you’re the pilot.” – M. Altschuler

Please understand, one of these days is none of these days.

Hope this post and these quotes inspire you to stop procrastinating and start initiating priorities that bring your life into alignment with what will matter in the long run.

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Sam Horn, CEO of The INTRIGUE AGENCY and TEDx speaker, is on a mission to help people create the life, work and relationships of their dreams. Her work has been quoted in New York Times, on NPR, and presented to Nationwide, NASA, Intel, Cisco, Capital One, YPO. This is excerpted from her new book SOMEDAY is Not a Day in the Week, endorsed by Sheri Salata (fomer Executive Producer of The Oprah Winfrey Show) who says Sam is “one of the bright lights and most accessible wisdom-sharers in our culture today.”